


Tengen Toppa Puella Magi

by Lordginger



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, F/F, F/M, Magical Girls, Manga & Anime, Mecha, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2020-02-07 10:36:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18618913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lordginger/pseuds/Lordginger
Summary: At the edge of despair, a desperate wish to save those tricked and failed is made. Now, Team Gurren drills towards the heavens, Magical Girls and Men of the Spiral joining to create new powers beyond despair and hope, beyond entropy and the Spiral Nemesis.





	1. Break The Ceiling With Your Dream!

Tengen Toppa Puella Magi

  
AN: I first put this together six years ago. It was clumsy, but I don’t hate it. As a writer, as a human, bit by bit I advance. That’s how a drill works, after all.

I can’t promise I’ll finish this. I can’t even promise we’ll make it to Lord Genome. But I can at least try to create the best version of what already exists.

* * *

Chapter 1 – Break the Ceiling With Your Drill!

The eye of the storm is the most beautiful, yet most deadly part of calamity. A moment of dread silence where one can witness everything that has been brought to ruins, and feel everything that is yet to be destroyed. A turning point where anything can happen. In the middle of Walpurgisnatch’s indifferent maelstrom, a young girl guided the history of humanity.

"Since you're now the point of karmic destiny from numerous different timelines, no matter how enormous the wish, you will likely be able to make it come true."

The creature responsible for the city’s ruin showed no concern for the loss of life, nor the upending of buildings, roads and the endless flood that had rushed in. It cared even less for the second girl’s futile struggle to free her foot and save her friend. Kyubey carried on with single-minded determination, fixated only on the bigger picture.

"Now, Madoka Kaname, what is the wish that you will pay for with your soul?"

A look back, a warm smile. Madoka Kaname took the past and future into her hands.

"I wish… that The Incubators could find another source of power to help prevent Entropy, one that means that no Magical Girls have to suffer and turn into Witches!"

Light erupted from her chest, holy incandescence that threw back the gloom and shook the earth as it grew in size and intensity with the desire to protect and save all those that had been misled over the long years. A promise to change things for the better, given form as it rushed over the city, swallowing up the girls, the alien, the ruined streets and the Witch that had brought all this about.

In the centre of the wish, a green spark blossomed, roaring defiance against the injustice of the world.

* * *

Sayaka dug. That was her job from first awaking until the point of exhaustion, as part of the digging teams in Giha Village. It was a job decried by her parents whilst they were alive and by most even now, but the blue-haired tomboy carried on regardless. The population was always growing, and as such more room was required. It didn't really help that the ceiling could fall on the village any day now, either from the constant earthquakes or the ravages of time. But still, she dug on with single minded determination, for what else was there to do? People needed somewhere to live while they were still alive.

Well, her shift was over, so lunch was probably in order. Hopefully Madoka had brought something good for them to share again. Pulling herself from her tunnel, she noticed Simon, her diminutive digging teammate hanging something from a string, a soft glint of golden light in the dim. He'd probably found something cool whilst digging again. The kid was the best out of all of them, able to cover masses of land in half the time of a full team. Even on her best day, Sayaka could only manage half of what he could, and even that effort would leave her crippled for the rest of the day while Simon would be bright-eyed and ready for a second dive into the trenches. Not that everyone was so appreciative of his efforts. Case in point, the three snotty brats staring at him and hiding pantomimed whispers behind their hands.

"What's so fun about digging all day?"

"He's so weird, and he smells too."

Sayaka clenched her jaw as she stormed over to give the spoilt layabouts a piece of her mind, a small spark of satisfaction lighting up at the back of her mind as they balked at her arrival.

"Don't you idiots have some place else to be? Like, anywhere away from those who do actual work around here?"

There was a soft pause, before the vipers turned their fangs on her.

"Speaking of weirdoes, how about the only girl in the village who likes getting all dirty?"

"And so violent, coming over here like this."

"Probably a lesbian too, considering how much she likes diving into holes all day. Quick, get away before we get infected by the creeps!"

And with that, the group booked it, running off and leaving spiteful laughter in their wake. Sayaka scoffed as Simon turned his head to the floor.

"You didn't need to do that, it's okay. I'm used to it."

Such self-depreciation got a supportive arm slapped over his shoulders for his troubles, a bright smile on the girl's face.

"Don't worry about it; those girls aren't even worth the effort for me. What do they know anyway? You're Simon, best digger Giha village has ever seen. Walk with your head held high!"

"She's got a point there Bro."

Both diggers turned to the sound of the newcomers, a tall, muscular boy with a shock of blue hair and tattoos running down his shirtless arms, and a prim and pretty girl half his height, pink hair done up in red ribbons, covered up in the traditional cloak and bandages of Giha, same as Sayaka and Simon. Sayaka loosened her grip and straightened up, rubbing a patch of dust away and hoping her face wasn't too dirty from work.

"Kamina, Madoka. You guys done for today?

Kamina was already lost examining the trinket Simon had found, so it was up to Madoka to fill them in.

"I was coming over here anyway with some snacks, but I bumped into Mr Kamina, and he says that he has a new plan to get to the surface. As you're both finished, we can eat up and get started right away."

"Madoka, how many times do I have to say it? Call me Bro!" Kamina said as he looped the drill bit around Simon's neck, Madoka giving a nervous giggle in response.

"It doesn't really feel proper."

"Screw propriety! We're Team Gurren ain't we? It's not about the blood we share, but our burning spirits! We're siblings of the soul, us four!"

Broad hands were clasped over the shorter members of the group, Kamina ignoring the dismissive glares from the other villagers across the pond.

"And today's the day; I can feel it in my guts. We're going to break the ceiling with your drills, and finally make it to the surface!"

"Don't you say that last time?"

Kamina's newest plan involved driving a tower of pig-moles into the ceiling, Simon and Sayaka at the front, drills ready to bore through to the surface. Unfortunately for him, Kamina had failed to take three things into account. Number 1: The ceiling of Giha village was far too solid to be penetrated by a pair of hand drills, even if his digging team had all day and a solid platform to work with. Number 2: Pig-moles were the furthest thing from a solid platform, and with no forward movement at the peak, panicked animals would continue to push up in force, and finally, Number 3: Gravity is a cruel and harsh mistress. And so it was that the three members of Team Gurren that hadn't immediately turned tail were watching Madoka's mother, the Village Chief, have her usual argument with Kamina, whilst they enjoyed the remainder of the snack box.

"Madoka, one of these days, I really will have to marry you."

"You just love me for my cookies."

"Hey, I've seen marriages built on far less."

The pair's girlish giggles where cut off as Simon tugged at Sayaka's shoulder. Kamina and Chief Kaname were heading over, neither looking best pleased as the chief returned the village’s ancestral sword to her waist, Kamina adding yet another bright red mark of discipline to his ever-expanding collection.

"Madoka, Sayaka, Simon, next time this idiot tries something this reckless, if you can't slow him down at least call me so I can manage the fallout. We'll be rounding up pig-moles all night."

"I told you I'd help get them back." Kamina started to protest, but was silenced by a glare.

"Kamina, I've been as supportive as I can be of your attempted excursions. Whether or not the surface exists is one thing, but this was just stupid! I'm sorry, but you're going into a cell for the next three nights as punishment."

Ignoring Kamina's snort of defiance, she looked around the group, switching to a softer tone.

"Now, is anyone hurt? That was quite the fall you all took."

"No ma'am." Came the unanimous reply.

"Alright, everyone pack in for the day then. I'll see you at home Madoka."

But plans of heading home were shaken with a grim reminder, the walls quaking and stones dropping from the ceiling as an earthquake chose to strike, the populace of Giha quickly whipped into a panicked frenzy as they bolted for shelter, hiding out until the shaking ended as suddenly as it had started, leaving only Team Gurren as the ones out in the open. Kamina and Chief Kaname shielded the others, Simon and Madoka clinging to each other in closed-eyed support as Sayaka tried to hide the blush caused from proximity to Kamina's back. Quick as the earthquake itself, Kamina turned back to the chief, hands shaking with barely restrained fury.

"Is this really better? Scurrying away to hide like rats every time the walls shake?"

"I'm not doing this twice in one day with you Kamina. The ceiling needs to remain sealed, as decreed by our ancestors. Anyway, what happened to the tunnel you were digging upwards?"

"It was taking too long! I'd be an old man by the time it finished!"

And so life in Giha village went on.

* * *

Madoka woke expectedly in the middle of the night, dreams of bizarre monsters and labyrinths of cake tearing her from her rest. She was well used to them by now, despite how horrific the continued visions were. Variations on a theme, but all marching to the same beat. Girls with swords and detaching spears dancing in alleyways, a symphony lead by a monstrous armoured mermaid, and of a great witch formed from gears, everturning, never stopping as it brought ruin around it. Stranger still, the girl she'd never met before, sometimes with glasses, sometimes without, but always infinitely sad, crying over her as Madoka stared into a vast span of blue, exactly like the "sky" Kamina described from his brief visit to the surface.

She stepped outside, stretching her arms to get the blood flowing as she walked over to the glowing pool of water in the centre of the village, sitting down and dipping her feet a while as she brushed gunk from her eyes. Even if she returned to her bed, sleep would be the furthest thing from her mind, caught up as she would be by pondering over the sadden girl and the giant creatures. There were no stories in Giha regarding such things, and while the few villagers she had tried to talk to about it had treated her with the respect deserved of their future leader, she could tell that her concerns had already left them comparing her unfavourably to her mother. Junko wasn’t left up half the night by make-believe stories, she focused on the real problems, like how old man Miyasaki had cheated in the drinking contest again or that damned delinquent Kamina and how he was corrupting the kids. Likewise, her mother was understanding, but if the problem couldn’t be talked out or smacked down, she was quite lost, and no matter how many times they sat down and tried to figure out the dreams, they would return the next night anyway. After a time, Madoka had decided to leave everyone be and use her extra waking hours for more chores. If nothing else, maybe the villagers would find value in a leader that was always working.

Her sewing was to be left alone for tonight however, as she caught an unusual disturbance in the night. Judging by the voices and their whispered arguments, she wasn’t the only one breaking curfew. The first thought was to wake her mother up, but that was put away just as quickly. If she wanted to be seen as a leader, she couldn’t be running off at every little problem. Like Kamina said, she had to charge straight in and knock some heads together until the dumb bozos listened to her, damn it. But as she padded over to the low light, ready to bust up whatever late night crimes were going on, she instead found three people she could never bring herself to harm. Her mother was already wide awake, glaring down at Simon and Kamina, the boys bent down like they’d been caught exiting a tunnel. Had they been trying another break out without telling her or Sayaka? That didn't seem right. Even when Kamina had been digging his upwards tunnel, he'd refused his friend's offers to help, claiming that they did enough work as it was. Nevertheless, he had still told them about it, to make sure that they'd be ready for when the time came, so that they could break free to the surface together.

From her hiding place flat against the wall, she could hear Kamina taking the blame onto himself for whatever it was he and Simon had been doing, and saw her mother raise the sheathed weapon. The intended blow missed as the group was shaken from their feet, and the sound of grinding stone vaingloriously trying and failing to hold gave way to… the ceiling. The ceiling was breaking! Great chunks raining down before the entire thing erupted in an explosion of dust and dirt. Madoka's eyes burned as great shafts of light overpowered pale Giha, and despite wanting to remain hidden she was unable to keep herself from screaming as the light took her sight away far worse than even the darkest tunnel. She could feel hands pulling her away and her mother's voice in her ear, desperately asking if she was alright. Scrubbing furiously at her eyes, the myriad colours rapidly faded as she was brought into shade. A huge metal face had crashed down into the centre of the village, and before it Kamina stood, one finger pointing towards the shafts of light illuminating his form.

"Look up! That's the surface! I told you there was a surface up there! This big mug fell from above the surface, from above the ceiling!"

A claim punctuated as the face roared up behind him, pulling itself to its feet. Although, to say it was a face would be a grievous disservice to anybody with one, as the metal creature's wicked horns and great fangs looked anything but human. It gauged the people who had gathered at the sound of the damages, before swinging a club down with stubby arm, sending them screaming and scattering for cover. Junko stared up at the monster, than back down to Madoka, drawing the ancestral sword from its resting place for the first time in four generations.

"Go find Sayaka and hide. Now!"

"But mum…"

"Go! Now!"

"Here, let me."

Kamina was over them, holding out his hand for the katana, Simon stammering and panicking behind him. There was a brief glance between chief and delinquent, a soft sigh, and the sword passed over.

"Don't get yourself killed. I still need to kick your arse for that breakout."

A soft snort of laughter, mocking the impossible.

"Who the hell do you think I am?"

And with that, Kamina began stalking over to the monster as Junko whisked Madoka away. It made sense, but at the same time, Madoka couldn't help feeling useless. But what was she to do? She'd never been in a fight before, not like Kamina or Sayaka, willing to throw fists the second anyone doubted the existence of the surface. All she could do was watch as Kamina made boasts to the creature, his proud back to the doubting villagers as he roared about Team Gurren and its great leader, The Mighty Kamina. And oh god, it could talk, laughing at the man standing before it, club raised high.

* * *

"What can a puny human like you do to stop me?"

Suddenly, a flash of blue, and a series of sparks and cracks, echoing off the skin of the creature, causing it pause and knocking the great club ajar as Kamina and Simon stared towards the sounds. There, again, and again, a continuous round of fire, getting closer all the time. Swinging down from the hole were the ceiling once covered, a pair of girls, cascading down on golden ribbons, one coming to a sliding halt in front of the boys, the other nimbly floating around as she landed far more neatly to the side.

Even given the failed attempt to get the surface, Kamina was having a pretty good day. And now, it was a great one. The surface was real, and things lived up there! Attractive girls no less! The two continued their round of fire from the barrels they were holding onto, knocking the bozo that'd crashed into his village onto its backside, before bolting away in opposite directions to find cover. Kamina tailed the ponytailed redhead, peppering her with questions.

"You came from the surface right?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"That's awesome! So that's a weapon they use on the surface, huh?"

"Not exactly, but something like that."

Damn, she was so much hotter than the girls down here, smooth tanned skin tightly wrapped up in the shortest shorts he'd ever seen and a pair of pink tights to go with a scarf coloured likewise; the only thing she was wearing up top, other than a flame-print bikini top and a pair of mismatched gloves.

"Do I need to tell you again to run? Do you have a death wish?"

A shadow fell over them as the ugly mug returned, but before it could swing, more of those red ribbons appeared, binding the limbs of the bastard. The other one bounced into view, Simon held underarm, a surface weapon in the other. Her outfit was the complete opposite of Red's, a tight corset and long sleeves concealing her form, with a big foofy skirt and leggings to match, all coloured to a yellow and brown palette. Oh, and there was one other thing about the pair he needed to get out of his system.

Bosoms, melons, milk factories, fun bags, dirty pillows, knockers, ballistics, boobies, jugs, jubblies, sweater puppies…

Tits. Seriously, surface chicks were a breed apart. Whilst he'd been checking them out, Yellow had popped Simon next to him, and both chicks were now blazing away at the joints of the invader, exchanging tactics as the ribbons stopping the big galoot from smashing them began to twitch and shudder. Even from here, it was obvious that they were rapidly fraying.

"Think you can finish it with Tiro Finale?"

Yellow fired her weapon and discarded it, Kamina watching in mild dismay as it dissolved the second it left her hand. Getting the ancestral sword was great, but he couldn’t pass up the chance to check out a genuine surface weapon. The other hand whipped up and grabbed the gem in her hair, Yellow giving it a once-over check before returning it to the flower hairpiece that housed it.

"I'll be cutting it a little close, but if we can get it held still for long enough, then yes, I believe so."

"Alright then, I'll get these two out the way; see if I can't hit one of the rear conduits. Come on guys, let's move!"

And with that, Red grabbed him and Simon by the hands, tearing off before Kamina could complain about being left out the fight. That train of thought was silenced as the monster finally broke free, the great club slamming down towards them. Next thing he knew, the three were underground in a bolthole, Simon panting heavily. He must have drilled them into here in the nick of time, not that Kamina expected anything less from his blood brother. And so they began following Simon instead, as the digger led him and the surface girl through the tight and twisting back areas of Giha. Which led to some really disappointing revelations as they talked.

"You said you're from the surface, but you're a pit chick? Get moving thunder-thighs!"

"Hey, what's wrong with growing up in a pit?"

The group stopped with matching blinks of surprise. They'd stumbled on Sayaka and Madoka, watching the fight between Beauty and Beast from a small bedroom. Sayaka looked not best pleased, Madoka a little woozy, as she only clipped in with a weak comment about not calling girls bad names.

"Huh, what are you guys doing here? I thought Madoka's mum had you."

"She ran off to help some of the other villagers, but don't go changing the subject!"

"If I can just interrupt this lover's quarrel, where exactly are we going?"

"To see the huge Face!"

Red and Simon stepped into the conversation, which got Sayaka to drop out of it, as she sputtered half-worked sentences about her and Kamina's relationship, or lack thereof, with a furious blush on her cheeks. Red turned to face Simon, talking to him probably for the first time that day.

"You mean a Gunmen?"

"What's a Gunmen?" Kamina asked, exasperated at all the talking and getting nowhere with it. Red simply pointed out the window, where the monster was rotating left and right, swatting with its club as it thrashed wildly in search of its opponent. As the group stared, Yellow flew past, launching herself into the creature's blind spot, platforms made of ribbons appearing and disappearing as she bounced from one to the other, elegantly dodging her monstrous foe with ease. Madoka's eyes went wide as the older girl neatly back-flipped onto the head of the Gunmen, before sliding down its back as the giant hand failed to crush her.

"Is that your friend? She seems really cool."

"Yeah, that's Mami. I'm Yoko. We accidentally blew that Gunmen down here, so we came to finish it off."

Sayaka had calmed herself down, and was back to watching with them.

"So why isn't she shooting at it?"

Yoko bit her lip with a soft frown, before swinging her weapon around and bracing it on the window. A soft "tisk" followed.

"Looks like she had less energy than she told me about. Typical Mami, worrying about everyone else but herself. Hold on a sec, let me see if I can't blast the power conduits. That should take him out."

A neat little plan, but not a very manly one. Which led to the building they were in being quickly smashed to rubble, Team Gurren plus one escaping into one of Simon's many tunnels, Yoko and Kamina sniping at each other all the way, with Sayaka throwing in a good few jibes once she'd made sure Madoka was fine, the pink haired girl taking up the rear, trying to sue for peace between the group. Finally, they made it to Simon's discovery.

"So, this is it? The face you wanted to show me?"

It was as Simon had described. A big metal face, attached to a red body. Not quite as big as the one wrecking the village, but it had a certain spirit that Kamina was already quite attached to. The inside had two levers either side of a pretty comfy looking seat. Simon climbed inside to give a demonstration of how he thought it worked, as the others cooed over it.

"Aww, it's kinda cute."

"Not really much compared to that bigger one though."

"It's smaller than the thing up there, but I kinda like its face. This makes two awesome things you're dug up today."

Simon's grin lit the darkness of the confined space, the first proper smile he'd pulled all day.

"Hey Bro, let's use this thing to take out that thing out there."

"Yeah, let's waste it."

"Not to burst your bubble, but there's no way we're all going to fit in there, even as small as these three are. And leaving the rest of us down here is kinda bad for our health whilst the Gunmen's trashing the place."

"Maybe someone could stand to slim down then."

"Sayaka, don't be catty!"

Before yet another argument could break out, the group was distracted by the green glow coming from the drill Simon had found earlier, pulsating neon green in sync with the slits in the eyes. Simon turned his head expectantly to Kamina, lost in thought.

"Come on Bro, get in!"

"No. You do it Simon."

"What?"

"You dug it up, so this thing belongs to you. You think The Great Kamina could steal from his brother? What kind of person do you think you're dealing with?"

"But I could never do this!"

"Dumbass, kick logic out and do the impossible! That's how Team Gurren rolls, remember?"

"Think we should remind them that there's a monster trying to get us?" Yoko asked, cocking an eyebrow at the nonsense coming from the older boy's mouth. Sayaka gave a dismissive wave as Madoka giggled.

"Nah, just give them a moment, they do this routine at least once a day."

The light-heartedness was cut off abruptly as the earth around them began to shake violently, great grunts sounding from above. Madoka and Sayaka suddenly found themselves next to a panicking Simon, Kamina and Yoko hanging off the edges of the Gunmen. Kamina cut into Simon's worrying with piercing words and broad grin.

"Listen Simon, don't believe in yourself. Believe in the Kamina that believes in you. Besides, you've got a mecha and two cute girls at your side, you can do anything buddy!"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

Yoko's protests were lost on Simon though, staring deeply into the faded metal panel and the brilliant glow that echoed from within. A swirl of bright dots enraptured in that green energy reflected in his goggles, the same as that coming from the drill, brought up to meet his face by Boota, the little pig-mole staring up at him with belief matched only by his Bro. The drill slid into the indentation neatly, a soft click before the world erupted into untapped power.

* * *

Mami Tomoe grit her teeth as her eyes meet the soul gem hanging from her wrist, her forearm protected by the wide shield she'd formed from ribbons holding steady against the rain of steel coming down on her. Only about a tenth of her magical energy was left, so she was stuck on defence. Whatever Yoko had planned with those boys, it would need to be put into play soon, or there wouldn't be a Magical Girl to save. The club came down again, and Mami met it with shield, not for the first time thanking her enhanced body's battle capabilities as the shockwave run through her. A normal human would have been crushed a long time ago. _"Still, best not to dwell on that,"_ she thought as she absorbed another swing, the recoil on this one giving her enough time to start moving again, ribbons beginning to flow down her right arm, a musket forming for her counterattack. Which probably would have worked fairly well, had the ground she ran to not given out on her to reveal a second Gunmen, bursting forth with a crew of villagers hanging off the sides, including her partner.

"Yoko?"

A brief reunion quickly ended by the busty gunslingers meeting each other at high speed, sending Yoko flying from the arm of the mini Gunmen, momentum whipping the Magical Girl after her. The last thing Mami managed to summon before her soul gem darkened was a net of ribbons to catch them, the pair crash landing into one of Giha's remaining walls, laying on each other with arms and legs all about the place.

"Good catch."

"Thank you. I'm afraid that's all from me today though, my soul gem's just gone out. I see you went and found plan B."

"You could say that."

And so it was that Kamina found himself glaring up at his newest archenemy of all five minutes and thirty five seconds for the second time that day.

"Bet you weren't expecting this, were you, you son of a bitch! Even if heaven itself tolerates your brutality, the mighty Lagann will not!"

"Lagann?" Echoed the pilot and passengers, clearly as confused as everyone else.

"Yeah, it's this big feller's name. I just came up with it." Kamina explained, giving the newly named Lagann a slap for punctuation. Any further explanation wasn't forthcoming, as Lagann bounced away on spring legs to avoid being crushed, Kamina deriding Simon as it went for a lack of manliness. The second swing was cancelled by a blast of lightning striking the Gunmen in the eye, causing it to flinch, crutching at the damaged orb. Yoko was back on her feet and back in the fight, Lagann crashing to a halt next to her.

"Doesn't that thing have any attacks?"

"Quick, look for buttons!"

There was a quick pause in the action as Team Gurren began searching for any sort of controls, spinning the handles, moving the seat cushions and generally making a mess of the cockpit. The problem was solved by Madoka giving the drill bit in the centre console a tentative twist, letting out a squeal of surprise as a drill burst from Lagann's forehead, nearly taking off the back of Yoko's bikini as it went. Unsurprisingly, Kamina recovered from the shock first.

"A drill? That's a perfect match! Good going Madoka!"

Ignoring Yoko's complaints and Madoka's nervous exclamations of "I-it's nothing, really!" Kamina turned to his blood brother.

"Alright, smash us right into that big ugly mug; let it feel the power of Team Gurren's mighty drill!"

"Yeah, let's get rid of that guy once and for all!" Sayaka chipped in, grabbing Simon's shoulders for encouragement, the pilot taking a look at the team around him before grabbing the handles with a grunt, Lagann's body lighting up in a green haze as two more drills replaced the hands of the Gunmen. The battle transformation was completed as bands appeared from nowhere, clutching the surprised Team Gurren and wrapping them up neatly within the cockpit. The enemy Gunmen went for a thrust as Lagann burned forwards, drill meeting club for all of a second before the smaller Gunmen rushed through the arm of its opponent, four voices roaring as one in higher and higher intensity as both machines began to rise, forced up by the blinding stream of energy coming from the back of Lagann, climbing like a firework towards the ceiling, the high pitch screaming of a drill taking those that dreamed to the promised surface.

Lagann broke the surface in an explosion of earth and metal, the enemy Gunmen raining down in fragments as the drills retracted and the bands lifted, freeing the girls from being squeezed up against the boys. Not that social niceties were at the forefront of anyone's minds, as the view was just too good. A great plane of earth stretching out as far as the eye could see, with a burning orb lighting the left of their vision, a silvery partner casting the right into shadow, the pair slowly rotating around the group as Lagann rose to the peak of its skyward launch, throwing the capes from those wearing them as Team Gurren boggled at the sights before them, the crisp wind on exposed skin ignored as they turned to each other, smiles abound in mutual joy at their long-awaited success. It was a moment that would have had a lot more dignity and ambiance, had Kamina not promptly punched the air.

"I told them! The surface is real!"

"Um, we kind of left the surface girls back in Giha though." Madoka said, interrupting the whoops and cheers of the older boy.

"Ah, don't worry about it. I'm sure they'll be fine."

"Hey, does it feel like we're falling to anyone else?"

There was a shared blink and a slow, simultaneous turn from the four to notice that, yes, the thruster at the back of Lagann had cut out, and that the Gunmen was starting to pick up speed in the wrong direction. Kamina grabbed onto the two girls with one arm and the console with the other as Team Gurren were lifted from their seats, screaming all the way down.

* * *

"How you doing Mami?"

Yoko kept glancing around at the Giha villagers as her partner stretched her weary limbs, making sure everything still worked. Magical girls were tough, but not invincible after all. Fortunately, it seemed Mami was more tired from over-reaching her power limits than anything else. Still, the villager's nerves and fear would only keep them away for a little while. They'd be all over the pair in a minute, demanding answers they probably wouldn't enjoy.

"Hey!"

Oh lovely, one had already found the guts. An imposing woman with short purple hair who bore a striking, if older, resemblance to the girl who'd asked about Mami earlier, albeit with a presence like none Yoko had felt before. Unsurprisingly, she looked none too happy.

"You surface girls better start talking. I want to know exactly where the hell Madoka just got whisked away to."


	2. Chapter 2

Tengen Toppa Puella Magi

Chapter 2: I Said I’m Gonna Become a Magical Girl!

Bachika Village – 3 years before current timeline

Bachika village was burning. Frankly, there was little else of Kittan’s mind as he took a look back at the skeletons of buildings he’d once ducked in and out of on a daily basis to avoid chores. Oh, how he missed chores. Kiyal clung to his back with limbs locked so tightly that he’d be convinced she was dead if not for the steady stream of tears oozing down the back of his shirt. Kinon’s hand was tucked into his remaining free one, his less athletic sister having been reduced to being guided along long ago as they fled the destruction. Kittan considered himself pretty fit, hell, you only had to look at his arms for proof of that, but even he’d run himself dry hauling ass away from his home, legs burning with the strain of the jerking, shaking steps he forced himself to complete to get up this hill, away from the fires and the monster that had started them, the silver beast with two faces. With one last lurch, he threw himself over the apex of the hill, letting himself collapse over the peak to block the searing light from his sight, the three siblings crashing into the grass, chests heaving as they struggled for air. But that exposed them to the other component of this nightmare – the smell.

Kittan was damn sure he’d never smell anything worse than that vile combination of burning flesh and the smoke that went with it, and he’d smelled his mother’s mystery stew, God rest her soul. Still, he forced his lunch to stay down, despite its best attempts to leave him. He had to keep it together for what was left of his family. Kinon had far less control however, rolling over away from him to throw up, Kittan managing to raise a hand to pat her back as the bespectacled girl coughed and hacked away, until all she was spitting up was strings of saliva.

“Kiyoh’s dead… isn’t she?”

Okay, Kiyal was talking again. That was… good wasn’t exactly the right word, but it’d do for the time being. He’d managed to get her to land next to him in the fall, and so wrapped an arm around her in support. The oldest sister of the trio, Kiyoh, had run off to obtain sheep-dogs for them to escape on. Last he’d seen her; she was barrelling away towards the farms with yo-yo in hand. Giving Kiyal another squeeze, he motioned for Kinon to sit with her. Pulling himself to his feet, exhausted muscles groaning, he made his way to the peak once more, hauling himself over only to collapse to his knees as he got there.

The farmlands were burning. Really, why should he have expected anything different? That monster was storming about, reducing towers to rubble as it went amongst the flames. The smaller head glowed red, before firing that beam of death into the food storehouses. Kittan didn’t even notice how bloody his fist was from pounding it into the dirt until Kiyal’s hand on his shoulder gave him pause. Gritting his teeth, he pulled himself to his feet once more.

“I’m going to look for her.”

“What?”

“T-that’s suicide!”

“I don’t care! We’re sticking together, like we always have! Even if I have to fight that bastard myself!”

“That won’t be necessary.”

And that’s when things got really screwy.

Present Day – Present Time – Crater above Giha village

“Well, they say any landing you can walk away from is a good landing.”

“Where’d you hear that?”

“My dad told me. He used to say a lot of things like that.”

Team Gurren had finished falling in spectacular style, having kicked up an impressive amount of dirt as they had done so. Unfortunately, this left Lagann currently sitting in a neat crater, with Simon drilling around the limbs to free up the dirt that currently entrapped the miniature Gunmen. Kamina and the girls were stretching out and limbering up, making sure everything still worked after the crash and admiring the surface lands. And whilst the majority of the group were relaxing, Madoka wore a frown. An action that Kamina refused to let go unpunished, throwing his arm over her and leaning on the slight girl, damn near knocking her over seeing as he was nearly twice her height.

“What’s up Madoka? Check it out; the open world is free before us!”

The man took a deep breath, savouring air he had not tasted since he was Madoka’s size himself.

“Yeah, this is how the world should be. No ceilings, no restrictions. It’s a man’s world alright.”

Madoka’s top teeth found her lip, pulling back slightly on the flesh as her eyes darted to and thro.

“I know, and it’s beautiful… but…”

“But?” Sayaka interjected, a mite concerned. It wouldn’t do for her friend to be down in the dumps on the surface of all places.

“Can anyone else hear chuckling?”

With the second shared double-take of the day, Team Gurren suddenly noticed that they’d been thrown into shadow. With a slow, almost unwilling turn they made about face to look up at another pair of Gunmen. Less monstrous than the one that had assaulted Giha; they still loomed over the humans with malicious intent. Quick as anything, Kamina had his sword in hand, placing Madoka behind him with the other.

“Damn, there’s more of them? Thunder-thighs could’a mentioned that!”

Taking a quick look around him, the leader of Team Gurren spotted a split in the rock walls behind them. Sending his precious underlings away hurt his pride like nothing else, but putting the girls in needless danger would hurt twice as much, and that was before Junko enviably followed him up to the surface and ground his bones into dust.

“Madoka, Sayaka! Get over there while Simon and I take care of these idiots!”

Not his most popular command, but the punch from the flatter-faced Gunmen killed Sayaka’s protests before they could get started, Simon sweeping the team into Lagann and bolting, clearly terrified. Of course, it wasn’t like near-certain death or white-knuckle fear ever stopped Kamina from trying to inspire his blood brother.

“Come on Simon, now’s not the time to lose your nerve!”

“Yeah, you got the other one just fine!”

“That was dumb luck!”

Lagann found itself airborne as the enemy Gunmen dragged its foot through the dirt, kicking them into the air in a crazed corkscrew, Team Gurren jolted and bounced around the cockpit before earning their second crash landing of the day. Which was frankly once too many for Kamina.

“Alright, to hell with this! Let me out!”

Bursting free from the straps that made up the protective dome of Lagann, Kamina adjusted his glasses, drew his sword and summoned up one of his Giha-famous speeches. As Simon looked on, Sayaka began examining Lagann again.

“Come on, there has to be a way to get the drills working again… Madoka, you made it go last time, do you think you can get it up and running?”

Despite Lagann being face-down in the dirt, the starting panel and drill were still pulsing, beckoning Madoka to give it another twist. She looked to Kamina, still ranting and raving. Looked to Simon, with his eyes as buried in the earth as Lagann’s were.

“She’s right. Either you or bro should be piloting this thing; you’re the ones who made it work after all.”

Sayaka was making a wild motion of “For the love of God, do it!”, the colour from her face slowly draining as she watched Kamina start swinging his new sword around with wild abandon, slapping it right into the Gunmen’s leg. To her horror, Madoka shook her head and took up Simon’s hand instead, clutching it tightly between her own.

“Simon, this machine belongs to you. You’re the one who dug it up and found the key. I just made it start, and Kamina got us pointed in the right direction. You destroyed the Gunmen that even Mami and Yoko couldn’t, and you got us through the ceiling!”

“And look what’s up here!” Simon protested, throwing a hand out to where Kamina was engaging the two Gunmen. Well, engaging was the charitable term for it, the delinquent’s sword pushing against the palm of the Gunmen, the giant robot wafting the mecha’s “mouth” in a parody of a yawn, the other one hoarse with laughter at the sight of the human’s struggle. He found it less funny when, with a furious cry, Kamina swung and landing a lucky hit, severing the middle finger of the Gunmen clean off. Which meant the human was suddenly very less amusing, and begging for a ten ton slap. Madoka carried on regardless, begging the question if there wasn’t some sort of unofficial rule in Team Gurren that all speeches, once started, must be completed, regardless of the safety of the group.

“This is Team Gurren’s Lagann, which means we’ll all work with you to make it work. But you have to pilot it, or everything we do will go to waste! And we wouldn’t be here if we wasted our opportunities!”

There was a brief pause, and Madoka nibbled her lip again, thinking on something for a second before her face lit up in enlightenment. However, her voice had lost the will behind it from a moment ago.

“Oh, and, umm, believe in us who believe in you, or something. Sorry, these speeches are more Mr Kamina’s thing.”

There was another pause as Kamina leapt under the legs of the Gunmen he’d damaged, scrambling around with slapdash sword strikes to the ankles, the harsh clash of metal on metal the only sound ringing in the dusty air. Simon took a last look, swallowed a deep breath, and grabbed the controls once more with renewed determination. Lagann pushed itself up, dirt shaking off in haze. On the dashboard, Boota tried to give Madoka a thumbs-up as the group turned to try the fight again.

Not that they really needed to bother. Kamina’s luck was as boundless as ever, the flatter-faced of the two Gunmen reaching down to crush him when it was suddenly struck by a hail of shots from nowhere; forcing the Gunmen back a step as the rounds targeted the far more exposed joints on this one, quickly blowing the arm up in a plume of fire. The pair turned to face their attackers, to no avail as the leading Gunmen followed the rest of its arm, crashing and collapsing under the sheer weight of firepower coming from nowhere. More surprising than the assist from nowhere was the creature that emerged from the Gunmen, the mouth opening to reveal a blob-like man covered in fur as it desperately leapt away from the ensuing explosion and into the hand of the other one. As it took flight, turning tail from the bullets, Kamina staggered over to his team, incredibly dusty and worse for wear, but with a grin on his face nonetheless.

“Lagann ran outta juice huh Simon?”

He gave the smaller boy two rough pats on the shoulder, leaning on Lagann as he caught his breath.

“Don’t worry; we’ll get the next one together.”

Simon murmured a half agreement, but turned a little pale at the thought of more fighting. Sayaka leaned over the rim of the cockpit, hand over her eyes as she scanned the rocky area behind them.

“So, who saved us anyway?”

Her question was promptly answered as a group of men emerged from behind the rock formation, moving out in packs to fall upon the destroyed Gunmen with tools and ropes, stripping off metal with well-practised precision. A tall man was making his way over them, pulling up the goggles on his hard-lined face to speak with them. A similar weapon to the one Yoko used rested over his stomach, albeit a smaller, stockier version.

“Hey there! I’m Dayakka, chief of Littner Village.”

Before he could get anything else out, Simon was cutting in.

“Littner? Bro, that’s where Yoko and Mami came from!”

“Wait, you guys know the girls?”

Dayakka was ignored as Kamina and Simon where quickly lost in their own conversation, Madoka and Sayaka filling in the space.

“Yes, we met her a little while ago. She and Mami where fighting the Gunmen that attacked our village.”

“You guys must be from Giha then. I didn’t know your village had made it up here as well.”

“That’s cause they haven’t! Struggling alone against fate and fortune, Team Gurren blazed to the surface, carving a path for others to follow in their wake!”

As was the usual for those exposed to maximum Kamina without warning, Dayakka was more confused than impressed, staring blankly back at the delinquent baring down on him.

“Team… Gurren?”

“Yeah, that’s us! A team of burning souls and wild dreams, making the impossible possible!”

Quickly sensing that there was no sensible line of questioning to be found here, Dayakka turned his attentions back to the girls.

“So, what happened to Yoko and Mami?”

The younger pair turned to each other, umming and erring as they began trying to think of the best way to term the phrase “we accidently ditched your friends back in our village in our mad dash to break free of the surface.”

* * *

“At-choo!”

“Bless you.”

“Thank you. All this dirt must be getting up my nose.”

“Hmm. It has been a while since we were last underground, hasn’t it?”

Mami had woken from her unintended post-battle nap to find herself and Yoko tied to a pair of chairs in a very dingy room, with an ominous woman bearing down on them with a multitude of questions. Telling her about the Beastmen had caused her to pale and leave the room suddenly, and now the duo could hear faint shouting from behind them. In the woman’s absence, Yoko had given her the abridged version of the fight, a tale broken by her sudden sneeze.

“It’s not surprising that she’s gone off like this. Poor woman must be terrified for her daughter.”

“I’m more worried about what’ll happen with that idiot dragging them around. Still, hopefully they’ll run into our lot.”

“Wait, you want to introduce two new girls to Kyubey?”

Yoko’s face paled, turning her head around as much as she could to see exactly how her hands had been bound behind her back.

“We need to get out and warn them.”

A sudden, unpleasant noise filled the room, and Mami slipped from her bonds. Taking a second to relocate her hand, straighten her skirt and flex her fingers to make sure everything had reconnected properly, the blonde set to work untying Yoko, ignoring the look of disgust of the other girl’s face.

“I hate it when you do that.”

* * *

“Ah, I wouldn’t worry about them too much. They’ve gotten out of tighter spots before.”

Dayakka had been given a quick recap of the day’s event as he strolled along next to Lagann. The miniature Gunmen was up and running again, carrying Team Gurren as it dragged the wreckage of the enemy Gunmen behind it towards that crack in the rock face, where the village of Littner resided. They’d been exchanging information throughout the trip, learning about the surface and the general madness that reigned here. Particularly, the creature that had been piloting the Gunmen. Dayakka had called at a Beastman, a member of a similarly titled race that preyed on humans, appearing in the mornings and retreating at the setting of the sun.

“Littner village used to be underground like Giha, until toxic gas from a weapons storehouse forced us up here. And when we got up here, we found the beastmen waiting for us. It’s kinda ironic though; the weapons that drove us from our homes are now keeping us safe from the Beastmen.”

The group could see the village in more detail now, people and objects casting shadows from the warm glow spilling out onto the hard dirt from the crack in the cliff face, a wide cone of light in the dark wastelands.

“Is that where Yoko and Mami got their weapons from then?” Sayaka asked, as the soft scents of cooking reached the group, Kamina cocking his head up in a manner not dissimilar to a dog.

“Yoko yes, she’s the best shot in the village. Mami makes her own weapons from those ribbons she controls. She can make quite a lot of things, but she favours those guns normally.”

“What? You’re telling me she takes out those goons with those strings?”

“Kamina, you saw it happen.” Madoka pointed out. She’d thought Mami had been rather wonderful during the fight in Giha. Hopefully they’d be able to meet so she could thank her properly.

“I saw her dancing around the thing a bunch, and when they shot at it, all she got was sparks!” Kamina was baring down on Dayakka again, ignoring that the movement of him standing up to do so nearly sent Lagann toppling over, Simon yanking the controls steady in time.

“It’s not really my area of expertise to be honest; you’d have to ask Kyubey. He’s the one who gave her the magic in the first place.” Dayakka tried to placate the man as they crossed the threshold into the village, waving at people as they greeted the newcomers.

“Q.B.?” Team Gurren asked as one as Lagann was uncoupled from its heavy hold, Simon manoeuvring the Gunmen away so that the men of the village could set to scavenging.

“Yeah. He’s probably with our mechanic Leeron, at the moment. They tend to have little talks about this time over tea. To be honest, it all goes completely over my head. Clever little guy, I’ll give him that. He’s the one who told us where to find you.”

“Huh, guess we should pay him a visit and say thanks. Where’s he at?” Kamina’s manly honour demanded he at least talk to the guy, since he was indirectly responsible for Team Gurren making it to the surface. Besides, he sounded like a bigwig around here.

“Huh, speak of the devil, that’s him now.” Dayakka said, pointing ahead at a white ferret looking thing, staring at them with red, unblinking marble-like eyes as its fluffy tail batted back and forth. And why did it have ears coming out of its ears? Weird creatures they had up here on the surface. There was no time to ponder such questions, as the creature bolted towards them, leaping straight into Simon, nimbly dodging through Kamina’s arms as it went.

“Where?”

It kicked off Simon’s chest, springing upwards to land on Sayaka’s head.

“Where?”

From Sayaka to Madoka, ignoring Kamina’s attempt to grab it once more and the young girl’s squeal as it leapt off from her shoulder, landing on the elder boy’s head. It spun about with a flourish, inner ears whipping out to make a rather nice centrepiece on the leader’s bonce, gazing down at the group it had sent into dishevelment.

“Where have you people been my whole life?”

Curiously, the mouth of the creature seemed to be fixed into a smile, and didn’t move it all as it spoke. The high pitched and cheery voice sounded from within the minds of the listeners, two of whom found it adorable, one who was plain confused, and one of whom wanted the white rat off his head. Kamina snapped his hands upwards, the furball twisting and flipping around to dodge his clutches. Unfortunately, the downward spiral of his descent sent him face-first into Sayaka’s modest chest. Who reacted to this about as well as any sensible girl does when unknown creatures dive-bomb their cleavage. Which is to say, not well at all. And so Kyubey found himself grabbed by the tail and whipped at full force towards the nearest wall.

“Ugh, looks like they’ve got animals like Boota up here as well.”

“Err, that… that was Kyubey.” Dayakka tried to calm down the chaos that had been roused in the past couple of minutes.

“Seriously? That little fuzzball?”

“Eh, I’ve been called worse.”

Kyubey padded back over, shaking his head out, seemingly no worse for wear for having been introduced face-first into solid stone. Plopping himself down in front of Lagann, he turned his head up to face the group.

“Pleasure to meet you. The name’s Kyubey. Short for Incubator, the current guardian of Littner Village.”

“Ink-you-bay-tor?” The day had introduced many new concepts for Kamina, and frankly, he didn’t like this thing already. On the other side of the cynicism scale, Madoka had hopped off Lagann to stoke the Incubator’s chin, his tail wagging happily.

And so a second recap of the madness of the day began again, the Incubator listening with great intent, to the point that the deadly focused stare of his glassy red eyes was off-putting even to the leader of Team Gurren. By the end of it, he was examining Lagann, tail flipping back and forth excitedly. 

“Interesting. For our part, I simply registered a spike in potential energy coming from out in the desert, which I imagine to be your “Lagann” here. Still…”

And here he turned to Madoka and Sayaka.

“The potential you two have is rather different all together. Potential much like Mami has.”

Breath caught in the chests of both girls, Madoka finding her voice first.

“Y-you mean?”

“Indeed. And with that in mind, I have a favour to ask. Please, make a contract with me, and become Magical Girls!”

* * *

It was night time now, a proper night time, unlike the forced blackouts back in Giha. Even in the darkness, the surface maintained its rough and dusky beauty, the light of the moon casting the desert lands in pale silver. The sky was lit up with thousands upon thousands of tiny dots of light, twinkling in indifference of the violent world below. Sayaka stepped out from the room she and Madoka had been allocated, a mug of clear brown liquid warming her hands, gentle steam wafting into the darkness. Turning to the entrance of the village, she spotted the other female member of Team Gurren, sat in a chair opposite a member of the night watch, quietly chatting away as her right hand moved quickly across the back of the jacket on her lap. Spotting Sayaka, she gave a small wave, finishing her conversation as her friend sleepily padded over.

“Couldn’t sleep either?”

Madoka nodded, continuing her stitching. The turquoise jacket in her lap was being emblazoned with the emblem of Team Gurren, the red flaming skull with its triangle glasses glaring up the two girls. With a final tug, the pink haired girl finished her handiwork, inspecting it with a smile before handing it to her friend, Sayaka slipping it on gratefully. Evenings on the surface were surprisingly cold, given how warm it had been just hours ago.

“My nightmares came up again, so I thought I’d patch up the clothes of everyone in the village. Kamina asked that I do something with the jackets they gave us, so I found some spare cloth and got to work.”

There was a pause as she gave a small yawn, before she pulled up a bright pink copy of the jacket she’d handed off to Sayaka and started her task over.

“Just mine to go, and then I’ll be done. So, what’s keeping you up?”

Sayaka took another chair, the wooden legs harshly scraping on the stone floor of the village. Taking a sip from the mug she was holding, the bitter liquid warming her body. Cough-fee, Dayakka had called it. Whatever it was, it could use some sweetener in Sayaka’s opinion. It was keeping her alert though, so it wasn’t like it was all bad. Setting the cup to the side she sank into the chair, only just meeting Madoka’s eyes.

“Be honest with me. I was useless today, wasn’t I?”

Madoka’s reaction was exactly what she expected from her friend, a sudden jolt running through her frame in shock of this self-flagellation, before coming out with as many platitudes and denials as possible.

“That’s not true at all! You, um… ah… helped give Simon… no, I can’t say that.”

Leaning forward, Sayaka reached behind Madoka in a side-hug, bringing their foreheads together with a smile.

“Don’t worry about it; I know I wasn’t exactly the biggest help. It’s like you said earlier… you got Lagann going, Kamina pointed us in the right direction, Simon beat the Gunmen, and I… hung off the back, screaming like a little girl.”

Madoka’s face merely downturned, unable to give a response to the contrary. Sayaka kept her smile as she rose from their position, sweeping her mug and looking up at the night sky, downing the brew in a single, unladylike swig, before slamming it down from where she’d reclaimed it.

“I’m going to talk to Kyubey in the morning about becoming a Magical Girl. I know you wanted to wait for Mami to get back, but I think this is something we should jump on. I mean, we get a wish and magic powers!”

“Do you even know what you want to wish for?”

Sayaka faulted, the wind taken out of her sails. They’d only been given minimal details from the Incubator before being swept up in the rush of post-battle celebration, and between stuffing their faces with surface food, listening to Kamina’s exaggerated version of the day’s events (promoting his soul siblings heartily) and the roar of the crowd in response to any tale of Beastmen getting what they deserved, even a voice without sound inside their heads was drowned out. What they’d managed to pick up from the little creature was that they would be given magic and a wish of their choice. In exchange, they would need to use the powers to help defend the village and fight Beastmen in general. It was a deal Sayaka was notably more excited about in comparison to her peace-loving partner.

“Huh. Didn’t really think about that.”

Madoka gave a small smile as she finished the emblazoning of her jacket, pulling the pink coat on with a stretch, before gathering up the pile of clothes next to her, staggering a little under the weight.

“It’s late. Maybe we should try getting some sleep again, and think about it again in the morning. It’s been a really long day.”

Reaching over, Sayaka took some of the load from her friend, but didn’t follow Madoka straight away. She could feel something tugging at her heart, and without knowing why, she turned her attentions to the heavens above, her eyes widening as thousands of stars reflected within her blue.

“Hey, Madoka.”

Her companion turned back, and without words, that same feeling took a hold of her heart as well. After all the noise of the day, the silence of the night created a sort of nostalgia for the home they had left not half a day ago. But up here, there was so much more to see, to do, to feel. Staring up at the ceiling could never compare. They stood in silence for a time, just staring at all the stars in the sky, until the mysterious feeling was broken by Sayaka.

“It might have been a long day, but I’m really glad we came up here. I wouldn’t trade this for all the pig-mole steaks in Giha.”

Twin smiles blossomed as they made their way back inside.

“Yeah, me too.”

* * *

The pair was awoken harshly the next morning from dreamless sleep as the room shook around them, not as strongly as the earthquakes in Giha but still violent enough to throw them from their shared bed. Stumbling bleary-eyed from their quarters, they were met with a wall of chaotic sound, and a village in full mobilisation, men and women grabbing guns and taking positions along the walls. In the midst of military preparation, Kamina was rubbing a towel over coffee stained hair, Simon splashing him with water.

“What’s going on?”

Ever the heavy sleeper, Sayaka fell backwards onto her butt in an attempt to dodge one of the faster villagers running past. Her question was met by Kyubey, appearing from nowhere onto Kamina’s head, jumping off to avoid Kamina’s attempt to swat him.

“Nothing unusual, just our regularly scheduled Beastmen attacks. They tend to be launched towards the village at high speed, the landings causing these tremors.”

“Wait, so you’re saying that those things are responsible for the earthquakes underground?”

Simon stared at the Incubator, his small frame shaking. Kyubey gave him a visual once-over, before shrugging.

“Most likely. In other matters, have you girls given thought to my request?”

At this, Kyubey found himself upside down, looking into the sunglasses on Team Gurren’s leader.

“Hey, hey, hey Fuzzball! You can’t just drop information on us like that and then go about trying to pull our girls into your shady schemes!”

“How dare you! The Magical Girl system is a perfectly legitimate way of life!”

The shrill protests of the animal were lost on Simon, suddenly lost in memories. The last touch from his family, falling away as rocks cascaded down. A grave mourned by just three, a slip of a girl praying for her father beside him. A squeeze on his hand brought him back to reality, Madoka once again beside him in a time of crisis. Kamina’s hand found his back a second later with a hefty slap, still dangling Kyubey by his tail.

“Come on Simon. You go out in Lagann, and we’ll show these guys how Team Gurren rolls. Right girls?”

A jacket was slipped onto Simon’s back, a dark blue one to contrast the pink and light blue of the two girls standing behind him with supportive grins. Leaving his blood siblings to it, Kamina ran out, ignoring Kyubey’s cries to stay with them as the Incubator bounced around in his grip. Simon’s attempts to pass control of Lagann over were thoroughly ignored as he was led to the mecha, now ninety percent shinier then it had been the night before. An effeminate man was putting the finishing touches to it, flicking a rag off the rim with obvious pride as they approached.

“Ah, there you are. Finally we met!”

His voice carried a soft, womanly tone as he presented Lagann to them with a flourish.

“I’ve seen a lot in my time, but never a mecha with such a unique construction as this. I got so excited that I just had to stay up all night working on it!”

Simon got out a half-heard thanks as the girls slipped into their positions either side of the seat, Sayaka checking out the pistols they’d been loaned. Simon knew Sayaka. She was a nice girl, and a better friend than he deserved. He wasn’t sure he was totally comfortable with her owning a firearm, the gleam in her eye catching dangerously as she locked and loaded each one in turn.

“Thanks Mr Leeron, but…”

Her sentence was cut off by a slim finger on her lips.

“Please dear, call me Ron. Well, that or Beautiful Queen, whichever takes your fancy.”

“Leeron’s the guy Dayakka mentioned yesterday. He’s the mechanic for the entire village.” Sayaka explained to Simon as she near dragged him into the seat, said mechanic waving her down with a blush and a girlish giggle.

“O-oh. Sorry, I-I don’t think we’ve met.”

“Well, you two just went out like a light yesterday, so it’s not at all surprising. Right then, let’s get this little fella up and running. Get ready to spin on!”

“Spin on?” Simon wouldn’t trade his friends and these new companions for the world, but there were certain occasions when he really wished that they were a little more… normal. Then again, normal people used make fun of him for digging, so maybe that wasn’t the best idea.

“The Core Drill.” Sayaka explained, pointing to his neck, Simon withdrawing the item and placing it in the console as before.

“Alright, now just give it a hard, manly twist.” Leeron explained, with slightly disturbing finger prompts.

“Or a soft and womanly one, like Madoka did.” Sayaka joked, just before dirt started raining on the group, the room shaking from a tremor.

* * *

Kamina kept his arms folded, glaring down at the two Gunmen as the Incubator in his hand continued his struggles to escape by way of very awkward mid-air sit-ups. One of the Gunmen was the same one as yesterday, the other replaced by a long-faced bastard. Both were posing and taunting as the sound of metal clanging rang out for the third time that morning.

“Here we go everyone! Kamina, you may want to cover your ears.” Dayakka said as he popped an earplug in. Not a second later, the reason became apparent, as a third Gunmen crashed down, kicking up a furious wave of dirt and sound in every direction. In a second, it had set up and begun to attack, swinging around twin swords with wild abandon wherever it spotted a human, and many places it didn’t. With the other two following behind in slow pursuit, it made its way slowly towards Littner, ignorant of the humans lying in wait.

“I’m curious human, why the animosity towards me? I’ve done nothing to offend you.” Kyubey had given up for the time being, relenting to gravity again. Kamina pulled him up so that they met eye-to-eye.

“Why do you want Madoka and Sayaka so bad? I get wanting more help against the Gunmen, and I’ll admit Mami was pulling some pretty nice tricks with that string of hers. But humans should stand on their own feet and make their own path, not just blindly take hand-outs and shortcuts. All I kept hearing from you over dinner last night was you trying to get them to sign up to this contract of yours. I don’t know what you want, but you seem pretty damn desperate to get it.”

He gave the incubator a yank upwards, the creature showing no sign of pain.

“Not to mention the shady looks you kept giving Simon. So, what is it? Why are you so obsessed with my friends?”

“Revenge.”

The Incubator’s face did not change as it gave the answer, but Kamina would have sworn it looked… angry. A deep, dark anger beyond even the longest of human years. Any other questioning would have to wait, as blinding light suddenly shot out. The red Gunmen had escaped the earth bombardment of the villager’s trap, and was roaring with animalistic malice, launching rocks all about in the shockwave. If Kamina cared about the potential danger, he gave no sign, dropping Kyubey and warming up his limbs.

“Well, this is interesting. What do you plan to do, exactly?”

“Ain’t it obvious? I’m going to pilot that thing!”

There was a soft pause, and while the Incubator’s face’s never changed, now Kamina got the impression it was genuinely smiling for the first time since they’d met.

“I like you already. Well then, how best to proceed with this?”

As if summoned by magic, Lagann appeared, speeding towards the villainous trio with Team Gurren in tow. With a manic grin, Kamina leapt from the cliff he’d been perched on, landing behind his teammates.

“Finally got him going then? Took you guys long enough!”

“Sorry, those tremors gave a bit of trouble!”

“It’s been them all along bro! Just like Kyubey said… they’ve been causing the earthquakes! They’re the ones that killed my parents, and Madoka’s dad!”

Lagann took a sharp turn, skidding full throttle towards the red Gunmen.

“Simon, it’s good that you’re fired up, but don’t get impatient! Now, full speed ahead, I’m gonna commandeer that pointy one!”

“Not to nit-pick, but can you even pilot it?”

Sayaka and Madoka weren’t doing much other than hanging on for dear life. Frankly, it was amazing they even could hold a conversation at this speed, let alone that they looked more concerned for Simon than they did for themselves. Kamina shifted over onto the rim of Lagann’s cockpit, ready to jump.

“If those Beastmen can do it, and if Simon can do it, then there’s no reason I can’t!”

“Actually… I kinda felt the knowledge when I grabbed the handles, so it could work.”

“So it’s all about Fighting Spirit then! It’ll be no problem!”

“Of course it’ll work! Full speed ahead Team Gurren!”

The group turned to face the new voice, which was coming from Sayaka’s chest wrappings. Kyubey popped his head out a second later.

“What are you doing?”

“This was the only place large enough for me to sit. Not as luxurious as I’m accustomed to, but needs must when demons drive.”

“Get out!”

And so Kyubey was introduced to the floor as Lagann charged the Gunmen trio, hood down, head first. Dodging the attack from the toad-faced one, Lagann ran up its arm and launched itself up, only for the Gunmen to rise up and throw a punch during their airtime.

“Oh, this won’t end well.”

“Should we look for buttons again?”

“Tiro Finale!”

It’s not so much that the golden shot destroyed the toady’s arm; so much as it was that the entire Gunmen was rent in two, a gaping hole running through the barely attached halves. The red gunmen was knocked back by the blast from the attack as Lagann fall back down, a quick spin to confirm it’s rescuer.

“Mami!”

“Yoko too!”

Surprising no-one, the duo had returned, making their way back to Littner by way of ribbons, a great mass of them forming a twisting webway that the girls were sliding on, shoes grinding on the golden threads as the giant cannon above their heads vanished. Kyubey sprang up, his voice echoing in the minds of the group.

“Mami, take care of the green Gunmen for us. We’re going to steal this red one.”

Mami’s voice responded a second later.

“I’m afraid that may be a touch difficult. We seem to have gathered a fanclub.”

It was as she said; a second pair of brass-coloured Gunmen and stockier, silver version of the red Gunmen they were fighting were all hot on the pair’s tail, tearing through the trail of ribbons left in the girl’s wake. Seeing this, Kamina burst from Lagann, clambering onto the fallen Gunmen, quickly followed by Lagann, pulling the mouth-hatch open. You can only imagine the look of the Beastman’s face as he came face to face with three humans, a scary looking maniac with a sword and two female cubs at his side, pointing guns at him.

“Get out. I’m taking over.”

With Beastman fleeing, the group was joined by the bodacious pair, pulling up in front of them, panting heavily.

“Why am I not surprised to find you guys in the middle of this?” Yoko asked, checking her ammo as Mami’s ribbons faded away.

“Hey, don’t give us that! You could’a mentioned all these bozos marching around!”

“It’s not like we had a lot of time yesterday!”

“If you two can curb the antics, we don’t have much time, and I only have one more Trio Finale in me.”

“Alright, let’s do this!”

Kamina grabbed the handles, only for the screens in the cockpit to glow red, “No-Kaminas” symbols lighting up.

“What the heck are you trying to do? Only Beastman can ride in those things!”

“Heads up!”

The silver Gunmen had broken through with a wild charge, gunshots bouncing off the silvered armour in its reckless abandon to reach the party. Those not in Gunmen were whipped out of the way by Mami’s ribbons. Kamina and Simon were too heavy for that, but the silver Gunmen sent their Gunmen flying with a tremendous tackle, chasing down Kamina’s acquired mecha with a great leap that smashed it further into the ground. And now the other two were heading straight at them, the web of ribbons in tatters. Mami grit her teeth, checked her Soul Gem before leaping into the air, thousands of muskets appearing all around her in a great storm of destructive fury.

“Migliaia Moschetto!”

The muskets sounded off with a thunderous roar of magical gunpowder, bombarding the newcomers with a deady rain of golden shots, the desert beneath their feet kicking up and creating a blinding wall of sand as the older girl dropped down, collapsing in exhaustion as her outfit vanished to reveal a basic cream jumper and sensible skirt.

* * *

Inside the plundered mecha, the cockpit shook as the silver bastard who’d jumped Kamina kept raining heavy-footed stomps from above, smashing his stolen prize before he even had a chance to take it for a spin. A kick planted him face down in the dirt, sprawled out and broken. The eye that wasn’t obscured with blood found focus on the remains of some poor bastard, skull slack-jawed.

_A golden skull, hanging from a chain, a hand covered in rings._

_“Take a look kid. This is the surface.”_

_“There’s nothing here.”_

_“That’s what I like about it. No walls, no ceilings. This is truly a man’s world. You wanna come too?”_

_Hestinant feet scrape backwards. A chuckle._

_“I see... you can come when the time is right for you.”_

_A broad back, a flowing cape. The last time they would see each other._

_“So long Kamina!”_

Damn it all. Kicking the bucket now, out here, before finding him, before seeing any of what lay up on the surface...

“Is not an option!”

The red screens vanished, becoming a proper screen to view the world, to see the silver bastard looming over him.

“Don’t underestimate me, you Gunmen bastards!”

* * *

“Kamina!”

As Yoko rained hell onto the Beastmen, pulling out gun after gun from somewhere in that scrap of an outfit, Sayaka stared helplessly at Kamina’s downed Gunmen, getting kicked around and busted up. Damn it. Why was it, whenever her friends really needed her, she couldn’t come through for them? Mami was out of power, and Simon and Kamina were out for the count. The pistols she and Madoka had were useless against the armour, and the villagers were too far out of range.

“Which just leaves you.”

Kyubey had appeared by her side from nowhere, tail swishing.

“Make the contract. We can hammer out the wish details later, whatever you want. But there’ll be no later unless we do this now!”

Yoko dragged Mami over, the group taking cover behind Lagann as the smoke cleared, revealing the two brass Gunmen, heavily damaged but still making their way forwards. Sayaka looked at Kyubey.

“Do it. I’ve got a wish.”

Yoko looked slightly stunned at this.

“Wait, Sayaka, don’t-“

Her concerns were cut as Sayaka continued regardless.

“I wish I was strong enough to protect everyone I care about!”

The Incubator’s ears flipped out, reaching out to her chest like a cradle awaiting the soul. But nothing happened. There was no flash of light, no rush of power. Sayaka remained Sayaka, and the stomping was getting closer.

“Nothing?”

“Huh, that’s not supposed to happen. In fact, that’s quite the opposite.”

“Incoming!”

The brass Gunmen were right on top of them, the group trying their best to scatter in every direction. A kick sent Lagann spinning off, showering the girls in dirt. Sayaka’s blurred vision swam as she pulled herself up, breath catching as the bigger one began to lift a shaky foot over the body of Madoka, face down in the sand. Conscious, but dazed from the attack. There was no way she’d make to her feet before she was crushed, let alone be able to ran away.

Ever since they were little, Sayaka had one mission in life. Protect Madoka. From those that thought she wasn’t worthy of being the chief. From those that thought them hanging out with Kamina would spoil them somehow. From the nightmares that plagued her, as best she could anyway. And certainly from certain death under the boot of a Beastman. Gritting her teeth, Sayaka pulled herself to her feet and began running, bile rising in her throat as she pumped her arms harder than she ever had before. Snatching a pistol from the ground, she whipped it up and began firing madly, ignoring the miniature explosions that rocked her inner ear with each shot. There was barely even any damage to the Gunmen’s paintjob, sparks flying off the metal. But it was enough to catch the Gunmen’s attention for long enough for her to throw herself under the foot, just before it came down on the both of them.

* * *

Kamina would give his opponent this; the bastard could take a hit. For every wild swing of the Gunmen’s sword that carved into his new ride, he gave a manly punch back twice as hard, yet both he and the silver bastard were still standing. Stumbling back, he grabbed Simon from the ground, his brother having landed here after the other bastards kicked him over. Damn it all, the girls were danger, he couldn’t even take out some bottom rank milksop like this and… what the hell was that light?

“CONTRACT!”

The other bozos just fell apart, sliced into chunky pieces in the blink of an eye. An azure flash launched itself at the silver Gunmen, an almighty clash echoing out over the sands as blades met harshly.

“Bro, what is that?”

Oh good, Simon was fine. The silver bastard fell back, swinging the other stolen sword in haphazard defence against the blue attacker. The newcomer turned to look at him, and as the light faded, Kamina realised that it was Sayaka giving the Beastman the justice he had coming.

Her clothes had changed, a bellowing white cape surrounding some kind of battle corset and skirt, both set in blue and white. More noticeable was the huge sword she was holding, a great claymore that she was swinging around with no more effort than swinging a stick. Suddenly, Kyubey’s voice echoed in his mind.

“Kamina, you said that humans should stand on their own feet. And I agree completely. This is the Magical Girl. A way for humans to make their own path, with magic, determination and spirit. Magical Girls are born from hopes and dreams, a shining beacon to inspire others, guardians of the weak. This is the truth of Magical Girls! Come Kamina, let us cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!”

“Kamina! Let’s do it!”

Sayaka was ready, blocking the Gunmen with ease, throwing back the sword and taking the entire arm with it. Kamina looked down to her, a shaky grin on his face. Well, he’d have words with the furball later about all this. But, for now, it was time for Team Gurren to come together and really show the surface what they could do.

“Simon, Sayaka! Let’s finish this in one shot!”

Kamina hefted one leg high and hauled his blood brother at the last bastard with all the might his battered Gunmen could muster, the rest of his arm coming away from the sheer force of his manly spirit. At the same time, Sayaka charged forward to take off the enemy Gunmen’s other arm with a mighty swing as Lagann’s legs formed into a drill, punching through the cockpit in a perfectly formed hole.

“Killer Combination, Perfect Combustion of Sibling Souls! Cannonball Attack Cross-Slash!”

“Okay, that was pretty awesome.” Yoko admitted as a rapturous explosion lit up the plains. With the Gunmen focused on Sayaka’s awakening, it had been simple enough to get Mami and Madoka back to Littner, despite the pair being nothing but dead weight.

“Oh my, you have a weakness for that type?” Leeron teased, taking Madoka from her shoulder as Dayakka scooped up Mami.

“Really? You choose now for this?” Yoko’s complaint was ignored in the midst of good-natured chuckling as the group looked out at the wreckage all over the sands, Leeron giving a little chuckle.

“But that lot certainly are interesting. Hijacking a Gunmen isn’t something that ever occurred to us, and that transformation was rather spectacular.”

“Well, I’m glad our life or death situations are so interesting for you.”

* * *

That evening, Leeron and his men got to work straight away on the newly christened “Gurren”, repairing it with all the parts taken from the other Gunmen destroyed that day. With his ride in the shop, Kamina took Team Gurren out to, in his words, “help the guy who saved them today.” Walking out to the massive imprint of Gurren’s hand, they found the skull, still lying there, miraculously uncrushed after all the carnage.

“Sorry man, I didn’t mean to wake you from your sleep. I got a little wild earlier, but don’t hold it against me, okay?”

A sudden glint caught his eye, the shovel falling from his grasp as he scrabbled around in the earth, scraping it away with shaky half-formed words of disbelief, until the skeleton was uncovered, cape and golden skull looking up at him.

“Dad? You bit the dust out in this place?”

Sayaka moved to comfort him, only to be caught by Madoka, shaking her bandaged head.

“You didn’t wait… You died too soon…”

The tranquil night was broken by the heartbroken cry of a lost son.

* * *

Omake 1: Kyubey Makes a Friend

“Of course it’ll work! Full speed ahead Team Gurren!”

The group turned to face the new voice, which was coming from Sayaka’s chest wrappings. Kyubey popped his head out a second later.

“What are you doing?”

“This was the only place large enough for me to sit. Not as luxurious as I’m accustomed to, but needs must when demons drive.”

“Get out!”

And so Kyubey was introduced to the floor as Lagann charged the Gunmen trio, hood down, head first. Blinking his beady eyes, the Incubator found himself face-to-face with a pair of black sunglasses.

“Huh, I haven’t seen a pig-mole in years. How nostalgic.”

“Bu Boo!”

“Oh hell, do I still have the translator for pig-mole Latin?”

A quick check of the Incubator Hive Mind confirmed that yes, he did.

“So sorry about that, my good swine. Once again, from the top, if you would.”

“That’s my space!”

“Ah, I see. I meant no offence by it; I just needed a place to ride. Tell you what; I’ll introduce you to my girls as compensation. They’ve each got a pair about… thrice the size of you. Per breast.”

There was a brief pause, as Incubator and pig-mole stared at each other, before a trotter was exchanged in the name of peace.

“Call me Bro.”

A paw was extended, and a brotherhood confirmed.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: I’m Not Afraid of Two-Faced Bastards Any More!

Where?

Where?

Where was that little bitch that had scarred his pride?

Fangs bared, the Commander of the Far East Theatre Human Eradication Forces swept the area around him, every asset of his Gunman focused on finding his opponent. A task easier said than done. Even for a human, this one was lacking in honour. Blindsiding him with pot-shots, only to scurry away as he turned to locate her, running in front of his sensors only to vanish before he could crush her. If he were a less composed Beastman, he would have sworn that she was disappearing and reappearing at will. But that was a foolish thought. As if a human could –

Before he could finish that thought, the left-hand monitor exploded in a flash of sparks as the human somehow disabled one of his cameras. Viral ground his teeth together.

“So, you want it to be like that, do you?”

Higher than any naked ape could dream to touch with their filthy hands, the ring on Enki’s helm charged, casting the sky a poisonous red.

* * *

“The mighty Kamina was in a tough spot, but who should come to my rescue other than my Soul Siblings, Simon and Sayaka? I knew then that it was time to teach the Beastmen the power of Team Gurren!”

The crowd cheered their approval as Kamina continued his overblown retelling of the day’s events. At the back of the room, Yoko sighed exasperatedly, taking a leisurely walk out back to where Gurren and Lagann rested, the rhythmic sounds of mechanics at work mixing with the low hum of party atmosphere. The unsung hero of the day was sitting in Lagann, caught in gentle conversation with Madoka. Judging from their expressions, they were likely to be at it a while. Probably for the best. From what she understood, the two of them were victims of the constant earthquakes caused by the Beastmen, and Simon had been driven to near frothing anger upon learning of this. Talking it out with someone who had gone through the same pain as him was the best thing for both of them right now. Besides, there was still one last member of Team Gurren to pick over for information.

* * *

“So, I have a question.”

Kyubey looked up from his bowl to look at Sayaka, face smudged with food.

“I find humans often do. What’s up?”

“Well, if you get a wish when you become a Magical Girl, which I’m still owed by the way…“

Sayaka glared at the Incubator, prompting a shrug from the creature.

“I don’t know what to tell you. According to my internal database, you’ve already received your wish. If I had to guess, it may be baked into your current strength, instead of an external force. If you please, we can run some tests with Mami in the near future, that should let us see the full extent of your capabilities.”

She sighed and continued.

“Then why don’t you just get someone to wish the Beastmen away?”

To her surprise, Kyubey began to chuckle as he wiped his face down with one paw.

“What?”

“I just find it funny that you’ve been a Magical Girl for all of two hours and you’re already planning genocide.”

Sayaka’s face lit up so red she could have been mistaken for Lagann at a glance. Kyubey plopped himself down on his backside, eternally smirking.

“But your question does have a reasonable answer. You see, a Magical Girl’s strength, and the strength of her wish are reliant on her Karmic Destiny. Basically, the more important she is, the stronger she is. As such, the power it would take to eliminate an entire race would require one to be an incredibly proactive queen at the very least.”

“So, you’re saying I’m not important?”

“Not at all. In fact, all the Magical Girls I’ve met recently have had exceedingly high power levels compared to those of my previous acquaintances, including yourself. That said, I wouldn’t spend time worrying about whether you’ll end up a queen or whatever. Sometimes, things like this are just flukes. On that note, Mami wishes to take you out for training as soon as your Soul Gems have recharged.”

“Oh… okay.”

“Ah, there you are.”

Oh great, here she was. Yoko stepped into the room, still lacking anything that could be considered reasonable clothing. Still, talking with her would be far easier than getting talked to by the Incubator. The sniper walked up to the table with misplaced confidence, settling down with a glance back to where she’d come from.

“Hey, so I’ve got something to ask you.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s about Kamina…. Is he going to be all right?”

“And that’s my cue to leave.”

Sayaka’s indignation washed out as Kyubey fled the room. She tapped one finger on the table, her vision sinking to meet it. She could still hear that heartbroken cry in the back of her mind.

“Honestly? I don’t know. Kamina always talked a lot about making it to the surface, but not so much about why he needed to. I don’t think coming up here was as much about meeting his dad as it was about just proving that he could make it up here in the first place. Honestly, you’d better off asking Simon. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them apart except for when we worked the tunnels.”

She’d apologise to Simon for shoving the other girl on him later, watching as Yoko cupped her chin in both hands on the table.

“That’s my other question. See, I get how Kamina and Simon work, and I see how you and Madoka work, and I kind of get how Simon and Madoka work, but I don’t see how Kamina, Simon, Madoka and you work. What made you follow him up here anyway?”

Sayaka lent back in her chair, noting how nice it was that it didn’t creak with the age of ten Giha generations.

“It’s kind of a long story.”

“I’m not going anywhere for a while.”

Sayaka wished she would, but decided that if she explained as quickly as she could, they could part sooner.

“Alright, alright. Let’s see… I guess it would start about three years ago, when the big earthquake happened. We get them all the time, which I guess is no thanks to the Beastmen. This one was bad even for us though, and… we lost some people. Madoka’s dad and… someone else were the only ones I knew, and I only found out about Simon losing his folks cause I had a new kid on my digging team the day after. Mine have been… gone for a while.”

Yoko gave the sympathetic nod of someone who knew exactly where Sayaka was coming from. She chose to ignore it, continuing with her story.

“Anyway, things were kinda nuts around that point because we’d lost the village chief, which left either Madoka or her mum in charge due to how our laws work. And cause Madoka was only eleven, that kinda left her mum in charge, which was a big deal for some of the elders cause we’d never had a woman leading before, so they kept trying to set her up with all these old bastards so they could pass power off to him and she’d stop yelling at them all the time. It didn’t work, mostly cause none of them were ever gonna measure up to Madoka’s old man. Anyway, because of that, she kept dragging Madoka off to teach her about running the village, because like hell she trusts anyone else to do it. So, obviously we don’t get to see each other as much.”

“So you filled the gap with Kamina?”

“Not exactly. You’ve seen how he is, right?”

“An idiot?”

Sayaka shot her a pointed look that quickly broke down in a small round of chuckles despite herself.

“Yeah, about three years ago I would have said the same. Back in Giha we were told to ignore him, cause he’s always been like that, yelling about the ceiling and how he was going to make it to the surface. I think he picked up Simon shortly after that earthquake, but you’ll have to ask those two about that. Nah, the four of us only got together about two years ago, on one of the few days Madoka and I actually got to hang out. Not that we were allowed outside, cause there’d been this huge bang and everyone had gone to ground until they’d figured out what it was.”

“I’m guessing…”

“Yup, Kamina. He’d found some sort of old blasting charges back from when the village was first founded, tried to use them to blow up some rubble that was blocking the upper levels thanks to an earthquake. So the whole village comes out of hiding while the chief is tearing into him so they can whisper behind his back and call him a liar. He must have heard some of them, cause he goes off an this massive speech about how we shouldn’t just lose our minds cause of the earthquakes, and Madoka and I are just standing there watching, and I think it just clicked for us. Well, for her anyway, she sort of brought me around later. Why would he be lying? He’s standing there all covered in black powder, having put his own life at risk cause he thought there was something up there worth getting to, and how could he always speak so passionately if it didn’t exist? So Madoka’s suddenly determined to go talk to him, and who am I to say no when it’s the only thing that’s put a spark in her eyes since her dad died? That said, I don’t think I was properly convinced until we got down to his cell.”

Kamina’s snarling soot-blacked face rose to her mind, unbidden.

_“What, you come here to laugh at me? Cause I think it’s funnier that the chief’s kid is breaking curfew.”_

“And Madoka just pulls out a box of cakes and suddenly she’s his new best friend. We stayed there all night, actually listening to his stories about the surface and his dad, and Madoka just keeps nodding and lighting up, like she’s actually properly alive for once. When he got out, first thing we did was meet up with him, which is how I met Simon properly for the first time, and not as someone I just grunt to and nod at in the morning. Madoka told her mum that he was her new project to prove she could take on a leadership role, but I’m pretty sure she’s known that’s been a lie for years, considering we kept getting “unavoidably caught up” in his plans. And ah, that’s how Team Gurren was formed proper.”

Sayaka took a swig up her drink, massaging her throat. That was probably the most she’d ever said in one sitting. Yoko just nodded quietly, before rising to her feet.

“Alright, thanks. Oh yeah, Mami told me that you need to meet us at midday tomorrow for your training.”

“Us?”

“Well, she’ll be training you. I’m going hunting.”

“Maybe if someone had taken up my offer, we’d have two girls to train her. But now she’s old and busted, what a shame.”

When had Kyubey slipped back in? His face was smothered with crumbs from the scraps at the bottom of the bowl he was scrounging at. Yoko flipped him a finger before she strode from the room.

“Sorry, I just can’t stand the outfits. Oh, and Sayaka? I know he looks cute and cuddly, but that rat’s a first-rate pervert if ever there was one. Watch yourself.”

There was a brief moment of silence in the small room as Sayaka picked at her dinner; right before the realisation hit and she sprayed Kyubey with spluttered water.

“That’s why she’s not a Magical Girl?”

* * *

Sayaka couldn’t really pin down why she didn’t like Yoko, other than some vague, nebulous distaste that just settled in her chest every time the sniper was about. Her new rising hatred for Mami though, that she could pin down flat, and it wasn’t even the Magical Girl’s fault (mostly). True to Kyubey’s predictions, once the day had turned to mid-afternoon without a hint of Beastman attacks, Mami had declared her intentions to train her. And so they’d come out to a large stretch of wetlands to find out exactly what she could do while the rest of the team stocked up on supplies. Above them, Yoko was hunting with a very bored Kamina as Simon and Madoka drew water for the village. Honestly, Sayaka didn’t even know why Yoko would bring Kamina along if she wasn’t even going to let him – “Dodge!”

Speaking of guns, Mami had decided that the best method of getting Sayaka to show her powers was to chase her down relentlessly. No matter how many threads she cut through, Mami never left the air. Every sword she threw was effortlessly avoided, only to be met with a hail of gunfire, hence why she was currently hiding and using every curse word she knew that her parents would have disapproved of. She checked her Soul Gem, watching as the blue shine was slowly eaten away by the second, clouding up into a muddled black. Well then, it was going to be all or nothing. But that was fine with her. That was how Team Gurren rolled.

She burst from her impromptu foxhole with a warrior’s scream that died the second she immerged right into the path of Mami’s rifle. The elder Magical Girl’s smile was so serene that anyone stumbling upon the scene would side with her regardless of the difference in strength.

“Bang. And you’re dead I’m afraid.”

Sayaka’s legs and Soul Gem gave out on her, and she fell on her backside bereft of magic and words.  Mami dispelled her rifle and outfit to join her in civilian clothes.

“That said, it was a very daring attempt. You should probably look before you leap in future though. But you have potential, and I’ll be honoured to fight by your side. Just need to round down the rough patches.”

There was a sudden whoop of joy above them, and Kamina was up and off somewhere. Mami just smiled again and held out a hand to help her up.

“I guess we should see what all the fuss is about.”

And like that, suddenly all of Sayaka’s annoyance at the older girl had vanished.

* * *

Kamina couldn’t say that he had many good qualities, other than an uncanny ability to put on a brave face and talk shit. But it turned out he was a pretty good shot too, seeing as he’d brought down lunch with his very first arrow. Yoko could bang on about beginner’s luck all she wanted, but at the end of the day he was going to be dining on one of those weird beast-birds while the grapehippo she’d nailed was getting torn apart by the rest of the wildlife. His prize still had a little bit of kick in it when he picked it up, but the animal didn’t last long after that. A quick apology was given, but just as he was about to head back a loud shout broke the tranquil air of the grasslands. Another one followed it, and it didn’t take Kamina long to deduce the sounds of a brawl. Which was odd, considering the voices weren’t those of Mami and Sayaka, but distinctly male. Well, he’d never made it to the surface by ignoring something interesting, and so he pushed through the long grass as quickly as the uneven mud beneath his feet would allow him. Yoko was calling for him, but curiosity was a more beautiful woman, and she drew him to the outcrop of jagged rocks that lay at the edge of the marsh. He found his target there, although it wasn’t exactly one worth being unearthed.

A Beastman and a human were locked in combat, both staggering about punch-drunk, their fists loosely raised. A silver Gunmen sat as the background, a sorry state despite the grandeur it tried to impose, which served the cocky bastard right. Having two faces was just begging for someone to bring you down a peg.

“Good afternoon.”

A low, neutral voice sounded from behind him. It belonged to a solemn girl dressed in a heavy black travelling cloak that matched her lengthy hair. She was barely watching the fight, choosing instead to clean and tinker with a pistol that made the ones the villagers of Littner used look like peashooters.

“You’ll have to forgive my companion for his lack of greeting. He’s rather preoccupied currently.”

“You know, this is your fight too Homura! This bastard destroyed Bachika Village! You know, your home?”

“Amusing that you would call it a home. I was of the knowledge that vermin build nests.”

The blond man was also dressed in black, but his cloak had been discarded for the fight, leaving him in only his vest and trousers. Judging by the way his greased up hair was wilting, the brawl had been going on a while. He’d given as good as he’d received though, as the equally blond Beastman in red was equally as battered, but no less proud as the man charged him for his taunting. Homura sighed, and Kamina couldn’t help getting annoyed at her.

“That true? The guy wrecked your home and you ain’t gonna do a thing about it?”

Homura gave him a measured look and pointed to the desolate Gunmen with her pistol.

“That was my part in this affair. The weapon is useless now. That’s as much revenge as I feel like taking on this party. Kittan can pummel him to his heart’s content, but I am satisfied.”

“Tch. You might have taken him down, but you’re so damn cold about it that it doesn’t even matter. You’re a Magical Girl ain’t you? Where’s your fighting spirit?”

The pistol vanished into thin air. Homura looked straight through him.

“Mindless spirit is nothing more than recklessness. You would do well to temper it, Kamina, lest it be your undoing.”

Before he could demand to know exactly how she knew his name, the rest of Team Gurren ran out from around the rocks, riding high on Lagann. The Beastman locked in the fistfight cursed, but was able to take advantage of Kittan’s shock with a cheap hit that knocked him off his feet. Even exhausted from brawling, he was able to dodge Yoko’s shot and make it to his Gunmen, scrambling up to the cockpit.

“Enough of this! I am done scrabbling around in the dirt with you naked apes!”

The ring on the second head of the Gunmen lit up in white, and before anyone could make a move to stop him it unleashed a blinding flash. Kamina hit the deck, trying in vain to blink away the hurting light that overwhelmed his vision. When he could finally see again, the Gunmen was gone, leaving only some broken parts and armour plates to show that it had ever been there at all.

“Is everyone okay?” Mami asked, already looking out for bumps and scrapes on her companions. Physically, everyone was fine, bar Kittan, who shrugged off her attentions in favour of staring off into the space where the Gunmen used to be. Madoka was staring off entirely differently, watching the new Magical Girl with a hollow gaze that stretched out past the wetlands and all the way back to Giha.

“I know you.”

An uneasy silence fell as, gingerly, tentatively, she staggered towards Homura with unsure footsteps. The dark-haired girl didn’t so much as twitch, even when they were face to face, tears welling up at the corners of Madoka’s eyes.

“You’re the girl from my dreams.”

One last step, arms outstretched, as if touching her would prove her existence. Homura stepped under the attempted hug, running a hand through her hair to catch the breeze.

“I’m afraid you’re mistaken.”

“No, wait…”

Madoka hadn’t been brawling with Mami or the Beastman, and yet all at once her strength failed her, and she collapsed in a heap, one of Mami’s ribbons saving her from cracking her head on the ground. Homura remained silent, even as Kamina and Sayaka grabbed her by the cloak, shouting demands for clarity.  

* * *

The full story came out over dinner that evening, not that there was much to explain. Homura and Kittan were survivors of Bachika village, way out east from Littner. Not the only survivors mind, as when the party returned they were greeted by three young ladies, Kittan’s younger sisters. The Beastman in the two-faced Gunmen had burnt their village to the ground, and they’d been hunting him for months, following as he’d made a path towards Littner. Homura was the former village recluse, and the Black Siblings had been shocked as anything when she’d burst out of her heavily-locked hut with Magical Girl weapons that tore apart Gunmen faster than the black water bombs the Black Siblings used. For her part, Homura stayed quiet, even on the subject of Madoka, not so much as uttering a squeak when Kamina grabbed her by the shoulders and rocked her back and forth so hard her head nearly popped off. What soon became clear however, is that Viral -the Beastman in question- would come back around for a second attack as soon as he was repaired, which was likely to be soon, and likely to be with reinforcements.

Not that any of this was Sayaka’s current concern. Not while Madoka was still out for the count. She’d yet to wake from her earlier shock and found no respite in her sleep, twitching and moaning at every little thing. Mami had been an absolute dear, ducking in and out with fresh cold cloths for her forehead and summoning cups of tea at the flick of a wrist, but now there was nothing to do but sit and wait. And that was driving Sayaka mad.

“Kyubey, you really don’t know her?”

“No dice I’m afraid. Whoever she is, she’s contracted with another Incubator, and they’ve been a right pain and refused to update the Hive Mind with her information. I only know as much as you do, which is that I don’t like her and that she uses firearms. What her wish entailed, what her powers are… I’m at a loss.”

“Mami, I don’t suppose…”

“Same here unfortunately. We never had much of a relationship with Bachika before it was destroyed, and it sounds like Homura’s as of an anomaly to them as she is to us. I’m sorry darling.”

* * *

A grim mood descended upon Littner Village, one that didn’t lift until the sunrise with the crashing of Gunmen into the plains, at which point, it became terror. Ten of them there were, and at their head, the two-faced Gunmen from the day before, fully repaired as though Homura hadn't scratched the paint.

“That’s… so many.” Yoko whispered, trailing from one to the other through her sniper’s scope. “They’re really out to wipe us off the map.”

“Well, that’s only fitting! Gurren needs a proper test run, and between me, Simon and Sayaka, they’ll wish they’d brought twenty! You and Mami too, I guess.”

Kamina stroked his chin, sunlight glinting off his sunglasses.

“Actually, that’s a good point. I’m making everyone here an honourary member of Team Gurren! The Black Siblings too! Not you Homura, you didn’t meet my strict standards.”

“Sorry, but… Team Gurren?” Came one of the confused villagers.

“It’s a place for manly souls.” Simon filled in. Yoko couldn’t help but notice the nervous quiver of his eyes under those thick mining googles, nor the determined clutch of his hands upon Lagann’s handles. Maybe he was more reliable than she’d given him credit for.

“Even though some of us are women?”

“Of course! We’re a team striving for heaven, no matter who’s with or against us!” Sayaka crowed, flashing her sword in response to Mami’s question. “And we’re not letting even one of those Gunmen cross this line!”

“A bold claim, for such a little naked ape.”

Viral led the pack, striding out as though he didn’t have a care in the world even while it erupted all around him. Gunfire and black water artillery flew overhead, while a second line of Gunmen and Magical Girls counter-charged. As the smoke cleared, two of the enemy Gunmen were down, and Kamina had thrown himself straight at Viral. Simon and Sayaka swept into the pack on the right, while Mami had the four on the left all to herself. Ribbons were already flowing far and wide, the older Magical Girl dancing between clumsy swings that were misdirected into the faces of their allies. Another one was down before the Beastmen realised they’d fallen into a trap, and another had been launched clean into the sky and away from the scrum, black water and gunfire crashing into him before he’d even hit the ground.

Things were less clean on the other side. Kamina charged time and time again, only to get flipped, spun, beat up and stuffed each and every time by Enki’s cool movements. Sayaka’s pure destructive power from her awakening had dwindled somewhat; where once she was cleaving Gunmen to bits, now she was lucky to leave significant scars as the claymore crashed in, and without the same flexibility from the ribbons, it was much easier for the Gunmen to keep piling in on her and landing hits. Simon was trying to assist as best he could, but his lack of confidence was clear as day from the side-lines. He wasn’t bold enough to charge in recklessly like Kamina and Sayaka, nor graceful enough to stick and move like Mami, a point succulently proven when a sweeping back-kick from Viral near launched him off into the horizon. Sayaka called for her teammate, but was quickly overwhelmed by the continuous pile-up surrounding her.    

“Oh, this is going poorly.” Kyubey commentated, keeping one nervous eye on Homura. The girl had been eyeing him up since her arrival, and not in an overly pleasant way. Her claims concerning her lack of ‘magical ammo’ rung less than true to both sets of his ears, and he wasn’t quite convinced that her borrowed sniper rifle wasn’t going to slip in his direction the second he took his focus off her.

“Well, if anyone’s got a plan, I’d love to hear it!” Yoko blasted the arm clean off of one of Sayaka’s attackers, but the girl was still lost in the mosh pit of violent stomping.

“Funny you should mention that. Clear a path jackasses!”

Beat-up and battered, Gurren barrelled straight towards Viral once again, the enemy Gunmen side-stepping the attack with almost contemptuous ease. Gurren came to a crashing mess right beside Lagann, and red light began to wash over the battlefield. The ring atop Enki was charging once again.

“Here, let me send you both to the afterlife together.”

The beam coalesced, grew darker, but just it was about to fire, the Gunmen swept to the side, dodging the bright yellow bolt from a Trio Finale. Mami was down to one battle partner, but even a dim-witted Beastman couldn’t miss a floating target, and the fish-faced underling slapped her to the ground. Viral scoffed, turning his attentions back to the proper place.

“Now, where were we… what?”

Gurren stood tall once more, now with a new addition. Lagann was jammed in awkwardly, skew-whiff out the top of Gurren’s head in a shaky mimicry of Enki.

“How’d you like this, you Beastman bastard? Now we’ve got two faces too, and you’re up against the combined fighting spirits of me and my blood brother!”

Everything sort of… stopped, as Beastman and human alike stood in confused silence. No shots were fired, no swords were swung. There was only the low breath of the wind, as if nature itself was channelling Viral’s exasperation.

“I am doing the world a favour by murdering all of you.”

The withheld beam fired at full force, an angry red line carving through the air as it rushed to destroy Gurren. It was met by a swirl of green from out the forehead of Lagann, vanishing into a pure light that was absorbed by the twin mecha. At the same time, an almighty azure peak suddenly erupted from out under the Gunmen piling into Sayaka, launching them all about.

“All right, I’ve had just about enough!”

For a girl on the end of a severe kerb-stomping, Sayaka’s light collection of bruises was almost comical. But whatever had happened had kicked her into high gear once again, and as Viral came in to stop whatever was occurring in Gurren, she swept up and met him halfway, bringing her blade up and up and up until it tore the crested helmet off, splintering metal flying everywhere. A ribbon snatched the helmet from out of Viral’s grasp, flicking it right into the hand of the transforming mecha.

The helmet slammed fast onto Lagann, battle damage repairing itself as though the entire affair had never happened. Limbs lengthened, fangs were bared and, with combining courage powering through, Simon and Kamina were back in the game.

“The Burning Spirit of a Man! Gurren Lagann!”

The peanut galley was suitably impressed. Viral less so.

“What is this… combining nonsense?”

“Nonsense? Nonsense? Who the hell do you think we are? You let your minions scrabble around in the dirt, and we tore through them no sweat. Sayaka took it off, Mami set it up, and now we’re about to put you in your place. Guys like you who don’t understand a thing have no right telling us what’s nonsense!”

Viral’s minions were still scrabbling, and kept flailing as ribbon after ribbon tied them up in a neat little ball. Lost in the unthinkable spectacle unfolding before him, Viral had abandoned all claim to leadership, and went for his sword, determined to split Lagann clean open. His blade was met as two drills punched out of Gurran Lagann’s fist, and straight through the sword, shattering it instantly. Enki was blown back, but as the pair went in to finish the job, the chest plate opened up with a roar of crackling gunpowder, and when the flash had cleared from everyone’s eyes, Viral was gone, leaving his remaining subordinates all tied up at the mercy of Littner.

* * *

By the time Madoka had woken up, an entire day had passed. Quite an exciting one, from the way Mr Kamina told it to the fawning Black Sisters, allowing Kamina to pull off the triple trick of annoying Kittan, Sayaka and Yoko in one fell swoop. Sayaka chose to deal with her frustrations by watching over Madoka all night, promising to keep Homura as far away as possible. Not like that was much of a challenge, as the mysterious girl vanished into thin air some time during the clean-up process, and not even the Black Siblings could tell Madoka where she’d gone, or anything about her really. But still, there was something about her. Madoka had seen those sad eyes a hundred times, she was sure of it. On the bright side, she was finally able to introduce herself to Mami, who was just as cool as she’d imagined.

As the celebrations faded away and the morning crept in, a plan was formed. Team Gurren met out on the plains, Kamina now donning his father’s cape. Groggy from hangovers, only those not of drinking age in Littner village came out to say their goodbyes.

“You’re really going? All of you?”

“Yeah. It’s scary, but the thought of losing bro, or the girls… that’s even scarier. I think I can fight, just a little so long as they’re with me.”

“It’s the same for me. I’d like to make a contract with Kyubey, and fight alongside everyone. But even if I can’t, I’m going to support them from behind, the best I can!”

“Also, she’s the only one of us knows how to cook.”

“As for me, I need to tag along for the contract. Even if I didn’t, I’ve been spinning my wheels here for too long. I’d quite like to follow these interesting fellows, see where they end up. Kamina wants to take out the enemy base and well…”

“The rest of us need to hold him back. For now, anyway. The Beastmen still have a lot of pain coming to them.”

Alongside Gurren Lagann, the Black Siblings rode side-saddle on their Sheep-Dogs. Homura was still absent.

“And we’re heading out too. More villages need to know that there’s a group of lunatics taking back the surface. Don’t go dying out there, you crazy diamonds!”

The dust clouds had hardly begun to settle in Kittan’s wake when Mami and Leeron set down their bags. Yoko looked more shocked at this than at Kyubey taking his leave.

“Seriously… you two as well?”

“These boys and girls are going to need a mechanic and frankly, I’d miss my chats with Kyubey.”

“About time someone around here appreciated me.”

“And… Mami?”

The blond twisted one of her curls, looking almost ashamed.

“Well, as Gurren Lagann needs Leeron, so too does Sayaka need me to help her train. I can’t really explain it but… it feels like I’d regret leaving those girls behind. Yoko, you’ve been a good friend, and I love you but…”

“But I’m not a tea parties and magic kind of girl.”

“Yes. That’s what my soul is telling me, I think. I need to go with them, and see what happens for myself.”

“You could always come along, Yoko sweetie. I really think this group’s got a good shot of making a change. Or maybe we’ll all die, but either way it’ll be interesting.”

“You ah… packed enough for three?”

As the sun rose on Team Gurren’s counterattack, the dawn was signalled with crushed ribs as Mami grabbed Yoko in a deathly tight hug, crying that of course she had, they had rations for weeks.


	4. Parallel Works #1

Tengen Toppa Puella Magi

Parallel Works Number 1: A Gunmen With No Name

AN: I really never appreciated just how many balls I’d be judging simply by combining the core casts of GL and PMMM. Madoka and Simon tend to get lost in the mix a lot, especially when stronger personalities like Sayaka and Kamina are around. Anyway, a chapter of nothing but dialogue and character focus.

* * *

“How are you feeling?” 

“I’ve… been better. I’ve been worse.” 

Lagann glided across the sands at Madoka’s command, weaving back and forth with only the lightest touch of the controls. Bathed in a burning pink from the control panel, the youngest members of Team Gurren were far and beyond from the rest of the pack, as Sayaka’s attempts to control Gurren weren’t going nearly as smoothly. Changing up the pilots had been Kyubey’s idea, on the off chance that Kamina or Simon were unable to take the helm. And after the way his hand-ears had caught ablaze trying to convert Madoka into a Magical Girl, it was best that she had a way to defend herself too. That said, Simon wasn’t expecting her to be this adept at the Gunmen’s controls. Sayaka, Mami and Yoko had only just gotten it up and able to walk about, and it had refused to start for Kamina and Leeron at all. But to see the way Madoka kept a steady hand no matter what the terrain, you’d think she’d been born to sit in the cockpit. The girl in question hummed as they crested a dune, spinning Lagann in place to look back over the horizon. A faint humanoid shape was slowly trudging along, Gurren finally back up and moving again. Madoka released the handles and let them spin idly.

“I was worried for you, when we fought the first time. You seemed really upset, and I just thought…”

"That I might still be?”

“Yeah.”

Simon leant back, resting of the rim of Lagann. Boota was still napping in his lap, so his range of movement was pretty limited for the time being.

“I think I’m okay. I mean, yeah, I was furious, back at Littner. I think I still am, but… it’s not bubbling up, like it was before. If we run into more Beastmen, I still don’t want to fight them… but at the same time, I do, but not go crazy, but… and… sorry, I’m not making a lot of sense.”

“No, I understand. You want to support everyone, right?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s the same for me. Back home, I couldn’t do anything. Not like Mama, or Mr Kamina, or Sayaka. I want to help them. I want to help everyone. And, if that means we have to fight… then that means we have to fight. I’d like to think we can make friends with the Beastmen one day, but for now, let’s just keep doing our best how we can.”

A hot breeze blew in, kicking up sand into the quiet.

“Do you mean that? Being friends with the Beastmen, I mean. After what they did to us?”

“I’d like to think so. We don’t know why they’re attacking us, but maybe if we sit down together, we can all share the surface. There’s more than enough room up here, after all. And… hating them isn’t going to bring Papa or Takkun back.”

Gurren was a lot closer now, moving with some form of purpose as Sayaka finally got a hang of the controls. Madoka lent down, took up control of Lagann again.

“We should get back to them, or they’ll think we ran right off without them.”

“Hey, Madoka?”

“Yeah?”

“I hope you’re right. About the Beastmen, I mean. I think Bro feels the same way, deep down. And if you guys think it can be done, then I will too.”

“Thanks Simon. Did you want to drive back?”

“Oh, no-no-no-no! You’re really good at this, better than me even! Honestly, you should be piloting Lagann, not me!”

“Don’t be silly. It’s your Lagann, I’m just borrowing it. I’ll get Mr Leeron to build me a Gunmen the first chance we get.”

“You might be waiting a while. Bro and Sayaka…”

“They do create a lot of scrap metal, huh?”

Pink thrusters roared into life, and off Lagann went, skipping across the sands.

* * *

“Is it selfish of me to want them to be my friends?”

Mami had long since given up on the idea of piloting Gurren. The Gunmen was just too large, slow and clunky for a Magical Girl used to having infinite grace and mobility when she fought. After months of fighting Beastmen near-flawlessly, taking one step and falling flat on her face had just been too much for her pride to bear. Not wanting to embarrass herself further in front of her new apprentice and Madoka, Yoko had done her quite the favour and taken up the controls instead. Some quick thinking and a small show, and now they were quite convinced in her prowess. Now all she had to do was never be in a situation where she’d need to pilot a Gunmen. Easily done, given that she’d volunteered for a war. Just never run out of Soul Gem power again, what could be easier?

Yoko continued to put Gurren through its paces, casting the odd smug look down to Kamina, standing with folded arms and a bit of a pout.

“Why do you think it’d be selfish of you? There’s nothing wrong with wanting to get along.”

“Well it’s… too soon? We only met them the other day, after all. I wouldn’t want to come off as clingy.”

“I don’t think you have to worry too much about that. That Madoka’s a hugger if I ever saw one.”

“Hmm…”

“Alright, I get it. You’re afraid they’re going to realise how lame you actually are, right?”

“Ah- you – eh… I am not lame!”

“Sorry, who’s doing your piloting for you because you don’t want to look incapable again? Come on Mami, it’s just me. You don’t need to put on airs.”

It was strange, just how quiet the inside of a war machine could be while it stomping around. A quiet broken by a smaller breath.

“Okay, fine, I admit it. I don’t know if they’ll like me if I’m not presenting myself as a cool Magical Girl. It’s pretty much all they’ve seen of me, and they’re the first girls our age we’ve run into in such a long while, and… I just don’t want them to dislike me.”

Gurren slowed to a stop, and Yoko looked at her for the first time since she’d jumped into the cockpit, gently smiling.

“There you go. Feels good to be honest, huh?”

“I suppose. But I still don’t know what to do about this.”

“Well, you’ve been doing the cool teacher thing the whole time, right? I mean, you blasted Sayaka half to pieces the other day.”

“I wouldn’t say blasted…”

“Anyway, they’re probably just as nervous about closing the distance as you are. Just talk to them, and they’ll see that you’re just as lazy and fallible as the rest of us lowly mortals. Besides, you’re already halfway there.”

“What do you mean?”

Yoko pointed to a blinking red light, branded with a cracking, zig-zag line under a pair of sunglasses.

“I’ve had us on speaker the whole time. They just learned you’re as lazy and fallible as the rest of us.”

Mami looked to the light, to the screens, to Madoka and Sayaka, waving at them cheerfully.

“You are the worst! I am never leaving this cockpit!”

“I don’t know I’d recommend that. It reeks of Kamina in here.”

Despite her knocking knees and a lack of any and all blood in her face, Mami found a smug smile to shoot back at Yoko.

“You would notice that, wouldn’t you?”

“And what is that supposed to mean?”

Outside the Gunmen, the rest of Team Gurren listened in amusement as the argument continued to spike, suddenly cutting out with a burst of static. Sayaka nudged Makoka between the ribs.

“Told you there was nothing to worry about.”

* * *

“Good news Sayaka, I’ve figured out how your powers work. Mami, shoot Sayaka in the face.”

“So, all in favour of leaving Kyubey behind?”

“I’m completely serious. Wait, left out a key point. Madoka, stand behind Sayaka while Mami shoots her in the face. Also, transform first. Figured that was obvious.”

There was some awkward shuffling as the Magical Girls assembled into a line. Mami reluctantly aimed her musket. Sayaka’s eyes darted to Kyubey, to the musket, back to Kyubey.

“So, do you want me to do anything or…”

“Hmm? Oh, right. Something else I forgot. Assume that Mami’s shot will hit Madoka if you don’t protect her properly-ack!”

Kyubey once again found himself dangling by the tail, caught in Kamina’s grasp.

“Oi, oi, oi, oi, oi Kyubey, are you getting my adorable little sisters into trouble?”

“I promise this will all work out. We just need Sayaka to focus wholly on protecting Madoka.”

“Hmm. Oi, Sayaka, you okay with this?”

“I… Madoka, are you okay with this?”

“Yup! I trust you’ll protect me.”

Sayaka stared down the barrel, a shaky smile warbling her face. “Screw it, let’s do it. Hit me with everything you’ve got Mami! Team Gurren doesn’t back down from even the stupidest challenges!”

“Very well. Firing in three, two… one.”

Simon ducked behind Kamina. Yoko readied a pistol at her hip. Mami almost closed her eyes, but pushed through the hesitation and pulled the trigger. The magical bullet launched, and nailed Sayaka right in the forehead. But instead of sinking in, it bounced away and spiralled off, landing in the sand not far off from the team. Kyubey wriggled as triumphantly as one could upside-down.

“Called it! ‘I wish I was strong enough to protect everyone I care about!’ That was the exact wording of the wish. As such, Sayaka’s power increases proportionally to the danger her friends are in, as evidenced by the way she was able to cleave through Gunmen when the soon-to-be Gurren Lagann was the target of that laser blast. Likewise, the knowledge that Madoka could be harmed allowed her to gain superhuman endurance.”

“A power for facing everything head-on, huh? Pretty suitable for our Sayaka.”

“Aw, come on! You’re gonna embarrass me.”

“Another victory for scientific practise. Now for test number two.”

“No, never again. I don’t have it in me to shoot a friend in the face twice in one day.”

* * *

“I’m real proud of you buddy.”

Simon’s jaw hung loose just long enough to catch a bug, leaving him coughing and spluttering for a good minute as he repeatedly tried and failed to gather what little composure he had. Then he realised what exactly Kamina had said, and scattered the rest of it.

“Wh-wh-wh-what do you mean Bro?”

“Figured it was pretty self-explanatory. You’ve been handling yourself real well since we made it up here. Just like I knew you would.”

“But… I haven’t been doing anything!”

“The hell you haven’t! Who got us to the surface in the first place? Who’s been fighting by my side all this time? Who’s the man who joined his burning soul with mine to show the Beastmen who’s boss? It’s all you buddy!”

“That wasn’t me! I was just following you, and…”

“And I’m just following your drill! All the way to the heavens, where it needs to go! Nah, where it’s destined to go!”

Foreheads bounced together, sending Simon’s eyes spinning.

“Listen up Simon! You’ve got this great spark inside you, and everyone but you can see it. So until you do, don’t believe in yourself. Believe in the me, and the Team Gurren, that believes in you. Got it?”

“Yeah… I think so. But I…”

“Hey, this is really sweet and all, but it’s the middle of the night. Can you guys bro it up in the morning instead?”

“Bah, women. They just don’t get it, right Simon?”

“You’re about to get something if you don’t lie down right now."

* * *

“Someone’s following us.”

Dinner had been a humble affair. Mami was a great cook, but even with Madoka helping there was only so much one could do with dried meat and gatherings. The sun had long set on the dusty plains, bringing in the familiar chill. But the moon was absent tonight, casting everything in an even deeper shadow than usual. Nevertheless, Yoko’s trained eye had picked something out in the distance, far beyond the point of squinting and straining on the part of the rest of the team.

“You sure? I can see a thing.”

Kamina’s case was not helped by wearing sunglasses at night. Yoko sighed, rolled her eyes and handed him the sniper rifle, pointing off at her finding.

“There. Due left, about five to midnight from where we’re standing.”

“Well I’ll be damned, so there is. Not bad thunder-thighs, not bad at all.”

“What do my legs have to do with my sight?”

“Hey, they’re gone!”

“What?”

The sniper rifle was snatched back, Yoko thumbing through specialised lenses to catch a glance at the shadowed figure and their campfire she’d seen only seconds ago. But scanning the horizon showed nothing at all, nor any trace they had ever been there to start with.

“You’re kidding me…”

“So, we’re being followed by someone who can see as far as Yoko, and knows when we’re looking back. I think we’re going to need to sleep in shifts from now on.”

“The hell with that! I’m going out there right now to give them a piece of my mind!”

“If you want to chase shadows all night, be our guest. Just wake me up in a few hours when you’ve tuckered yourself out, ‘kay?”

* * *

The campfire was a speck on the horizon, but even without it she would have been able to mark them by their machines from twice this distance. If they were being pursued by serious hunters, they’d have been gagged and bound before dawn. For today, and tomorrow, and the next day they survived on luck alone. But the past had taught her well that the luck of fools was a short-lived commodity. The future was still in motion, and rarely handed out free chances of safety. All she could do was hope this little fright was remembered, and they started to watch their backs more often. A prayer was offered to a God that wasn’t listening, lost upon the desert wind.

* * *

“The earth is strange here. It’s been disturbed somewhat recently.”

“I think you’re right. It’s tough, but I get the feeling it’s not completely solid.”

“Oh? Is that the famed senses of Simon the Digger at work?”

“Err, yeah. What do you think Sayaka?”

A palm was slapped to the ground, kicking up a little cloud.

“Yup. Definitely dirt. Come on Simon, you know I’m not nearly as good at this as you.”

“Nevertheless, you’re both correct. I can feel souls beneath the earth. There’s a village nearby, one with great potential.”

“Another Magical Girl?”

“Quite. Although I’m not sure how we’re going to get down there. I can’t see anywhere an entry point might be found, and it’s not like we have the equipment for a slow excavation. Maybe if we…”

And just as Kyubey was ruminating on the problem, ten tons of Gurren crashed through the earth, Yoko and Kamina arguing all the way down into the abyss. Wordlessly, Mami summoned a batch of ribbons that began to tie themselves to the jagged edges left in their wake.

“Shall we go and retrieve them then?”

“And start wording an apology while we’re at it. Good thinking Mami.”


	5. I Don't Get Miracles and Magic, Not One Bit!

AN: This ended up being much shorter than I originally envisioned, but I feel it hits all the right notes of what I wanted from this chapter.

Chapter 4: I Don't Get Miracles and Magic, Not One Bit!

He found her at the one place anyone went when they wanted to snatch a piece of privacy. To the crystal-clear lake where God rested, reflecting in the shallow pool. His image was broken up each time she skipped a stone across the surface, punctuated with murmured cursing from the start of her throw to the point that the stone would sink beneath the ripples. He waited until the latest and most violent act of therapy had completed its path before raising his voice.

"You must have known this was coming."

"Sure I did. Doesn't make it any less bullshit."

"Language, please."

"Fuck off Rossiu. You know I'm right."

"It is an honour to be chosen by God to go to the Promised Lands."

"They're only children, god-damn it!"

The stone smashed into the water, all thoughts of a finely-tuned toss erased in anger. Kyoko's ponytail was a furious slash of red as she whipped around to face him, tears budding at the corners of her eyes. Or mayhaps, simply lake water, splashed onto her cheeks. If he were to reach out to dry her, she'd certainly claim the latter. That was the kind of girl his childhood friend was.

The words of their religion were already in his mouth. The necessity of the trial, to ensure the survival of the village. The love that Gimmy and Darry would be showered in, and the absence that would tear at the hearts of all at their passing. That they would be freed from the suffering of the mortal coil, and ascend to true happiness. That, should her time come, she would be reunited with not only them, but the parents and sister that had departed so long ago.

The same argument that they had every time the ritual became needed. The one that usually ended with him getting punched in the stomach and her storming off. But today, it never got a chance to escalate. He opened his mouth, and the ceiling came crashing down.

When the waters had settled, and the commotion quieted, they emerged from behind the stone she had thrown them behind, a familiar spear in her hand and a familiar book in his. Neither tool prepared them for what had fallen from heaven. A bright red Face-God, head down in the pool. Even in this state, it had the power to gather the stunned villagers about its glory, only to send them flinching back at the commotion that erupted from within its chest. Angered words, and rapturous booms. Only he and Kyoko held their nerve and stood their ground, and what held them there he could not say, other than a grim fascination at what might come next.

What came next was a bedraggled mess of a man, ejected from the mouth of God and sent sprawling into the water. An older girl followed him, shouting all sort of insults until she realised that she was being watched. And that was as much as he was allowed to see, before Kyoko slapped her hand over his eyes.

"Sorry Rossiu. It's not a sight for good little boys like yourself."

The way she snickered under her breath left him doubting her sincerity.

* * *

The messengers from the surface weren't a bad bunch, by Kyoko's measure. But she was head guard, and so kept the lot of them at spear's length, just to keep everyone safe. Not that she had much to do currently, since they were mostly inflicting injuries upon themselves, the red-headed one they'd smothered in a robe currently stomping on the jackass who had flipped it up. The blonde with the equally impressive chest (but dressed decently, to spare Rossiu's blushes) pinched the bridge of her nose, and gave her a chipped smile.

"Once again, awfully sorry about all this."

"Hey, it's not me you need to be apologising to. The Village Elder's gonna get here soon, and he's gonna tear a strip outta ya, the sour-faced old git."

"Please mind my companion's words, Oh Messengers. She's having a rough day."

"Really? Sounds like she's only speaking her mind to me."

The short-haired girl playing with a sword half looked like she wanted to save her friend from the ass-kicking he was receiving, and half looked like she wanted him to get kicked a little longer. Probably the type that could do with speaking her mind, but that wasn't any of Kyoko's business. What was her business was the tall man suddenly getting all up in her face.

"Never mind all that! What are you lot doing, praying to a Gunmen anyway? You know those things are the enemy, right?"

"The hell's a Gunmen?"

The tall man pointed at the face of God, slightly ajar from the heavenly intervention.

"That thing! You guys are worshipping it like it's something great, but let me tell you, it'd bring this whole village crashing down about your ears if one of those Beastmen bastards was on board."

"The Face God has watched over this village for the past fifty years, long before we and us parents were born. It bestowed the honour and laws by which this village survives, as interpreted by Father Magin."

"What he said."

"Well that sounds like a gentleman of reasonable attitude. Any idea when he'll be arriving?"

Whatever that white furry thing was, Kyoko wanted nothing to do with it. Especially because it kept talking straight into her brain. Fortunately, the man of the hour arrived, flanked with the latest sacrifices. Not that you'd think it to look at them. Gimmy and Darry were as chipper and energetic as ever. The tall man made to slip past her, but she was between him and Father Magin in a shot. Not that the bespectacled messenger seemed to mind, grinning broadly down at her.

"Nice to see someone around here's got some spirit. Wanna go for it?"

"You wouldn't last a second. Do you even know how to use that sword, or is it just for compensating?"

"Kyoko, enough. These are honoured guests, and ones we must beg favour of."

She let the spear drop with a huff, the messenger planting both hands on his hips.

"A favour, huh? Not sure I'm willing to hear out the idiot that got all these people worshipping a Gunmen."

"Kamina, could you try to find some manners in that empty skull of yours?"

A hand went for his mouth, the cloaked messenger trying to keep him down while the furball found a place upon his head.

"Deeply sorry for my companion. Allow me to introduce ourselves formally. I am Kyubey, hereby representing Team Gurren, this delightful collective of warriors and freedom fighters. This one is Kamina, founder and leader, and we also have Yoko, Simon, Madoka, Sayaka, Mami and Leeron. We're on a very important mission and don't wish to trouble you for too very long, so might I ask of this requested favour?"

Father Magin simply dipped his head in respect.

"Of course, Messenger Kyubey. You see, our village has a simple rule, passed down by the Face-God. Our resources are scarce, enough only to support fifty people at most. Yesterday, one of our flock was blessed with three children, bringing us to fifty-two. Our ritual was held, and these two children were selected by God himself to travel to the surface and live with Him. As messengers of the surface, we humbly request that you accompany them, wherever you may be heading."

"I'm Gimmy!"

"Darry."

The girl identified as Madoka found her way into the mix, shaking the hands of both of them.

"It's very nice to meet you both."

"Now hang on just a second! The surface isn't a place for children! It's overrun with Gunmen, they'd be killed in a second!"

The one from earlier- Sayaka – finally started speaking her mind.

"Yeah, you might as well say death!"

"Bro, if it's what the village has decided, then…"

The world dissolved into a rush of noise, and at the centre of it stood Kyoko. Kamina had his finger pointed towards the surface, claiming that he'd rather die than go against his beliefs. Sayaka was yapping alongside him, little more than an echo, adding nothing. Rossiu was shouting back, litanies spilling out in the same rote way he always recited them. And all the while, the other messengers tried to contain this whirling ball of chaotic energy, holding back the children as much as they could constrain their leaders. All of it was lost on her.

The surface was death. It was a feeling she'd held for years, ever since watching her parents nobly walk out into that blinding light, leaving her and her new sister to be raised by the village. A sister that had died as an infant, quivering to death from some unknown disease in her crib. They'd watched elders and ancients walk up those stairs a dozen times, and every time, she could not find it in her heart to be happy for those that were leaving. They were simply dying, and now it was time for children to die as well. So what the hell was it all for then? The village churned through people, barely scraping by from day to day even with their losses. But each and every sacrifice was supposed to help them live. Were they even managing that, stuck at the bottom of this pit?

Ice water ran through her veins, and as a hand shook her shoulder, she realised that she was soaked. Sayaka was yelling something, manhandling her arm and trying to pull her about.

"Get the hell off!"

"Like hell I will! You need to get out of here!"

"I don't need some twit playing hero around me, so get off!"

Another spray of water hit them, and as the shock drained from her system, Kyoko saw what had everyone in a panic. A sharp-edged Face-God, standing in the pool. At her side now, Madoka, a gentler touch on the other arm.

"Please. We need to get to safety."

"Okay, yeah. Sure."

She let herself be guided to the back of the village as Mami and Sayaka erupted in bursts of colour, their outfits transforming into flashier assembles. They snapped and circled the monster, but it was crafty, and kept them at arm's length, slamming down whenever Kamina and Simon tried to get to their Gunmen. Neither side had an advantage, but neither side was losing, right up until it got a lucky backhand across Sayaka's ribs, launching her into the wall to fall limply into the water.

"So that's… a Gunmen."

"Yeah."

Madoka was holding her hand. Drained as she was, she didn't move to slap her away.

"They're the ones who run the surface. They keep humans underground, and kill them when they try to live up there. They aren't very nice."

Understatement of the year.

"But, it's okay! We have Gunmen of our own, and a power all of our own. You can see Mami and Sayaka – they're Magical Girls!"

"Great power. Sayaka's in the drink, and Mami's only a minute away from joining her."

"Maybe. But it's okay. Cause they'll get back up again, and fight again, until we have a home. That's what Team Gurren is all about."

A great whoosh of spray, and Sayaka was up again, attacking with even greater speed and power. Her attack allowed Simon to jump into Lagann, but Kamina was still looking for an opening.

"It's a power you can have as well. You have the potential for it."

Kyubey sat at her side, tail gently wafting.

"Tell me, Kyoko Sakura. What do you wish for?"

The answer was already on her lips. It had been there, ever since they had fallen from the sky.

"I wanna… I just wanna make a place where we don't have to sacrifice anyone. Where the children don't have to go to bed hungry, or die because no-one knows what's wrong with them. If that's what you're fighting for, then let me in on it. That's what I'm wishing for."

"A bit esoteric, but I can work with it. Let's make a better world, Kyoko Sakura."

* * *

This new model of Gunmen was surprisingly tough, not helped by the fact that all their heavy artillery couldn't fire in case they brought even more of the ceiling down. Simon swept in to pin a leg down, only for the rush of water to throw him back and earn a kick to the gut for his troubles. It was about to stomp down, when a flash of red rippled past. And another, and another, as multiple Kyokos took to the field.

"Right." They echoed as one. "No more moping about. If you wanna do something right, you gotta do it yourself!"

The Gunmen lashed out at a girl, only for the smirking image to burst into chains that wrapped about the arm and dragged it down, pinning it to the bottom of the pool. Fast as a bolt of lightning, a blue slash tore through the joint, and when the Gunmen went to swing its other fist, it found it wrapped up in ribbons, and completely at the mercy of the three girls.

"Oh my. Magical Girls just keep popping up."

"Yeah, nice to meet you. I'm Kyoko, and I'm hijacking this little operation. Figure it could do with a little less village gate-crashing and a lot more Gunmen wrecking."

"Hey, who died and made you a part of Team Gurren?"

"Give it a rest bluey, your boyfriend isn't even part of this fight."

"He's not my boyfriend!"

"He's not? Could'a fooled me, the way you latch onto everything he says."

"I… you…"

"Ladies, if we could save this for another time?"

"No worries, I got this."

Her trusty spear was gone, replaced by this new, multi-linked version, each segment crackling with iron chain. She cocked her arm back, and it grew to twice, three times the size before she let it fly, smashing straight through the face of the Gunmen.

* * *

Getting ready to leave had been much simpler than expected. With ribbons pulling the lately assembled Gurren Lagann and the destroyed Gunmen from the village, all that had been needed was for them to gather supplies and say their goodbyes. Team Gurren had already taken off, waiting for them on the surface. They just had to make sure they left nothing behind. Her spear wasn't the only thing to have upgraded – Rossiu had the full book of village laws now, and a thin smile on his face.

"So, learn any other dark secrets, other than all of this being for nothing?"

"Only what I already knew, deep in my heart. That my mother, and your parents, made a choice and stuck by it."

"And look at us, making the exact same mistake. Well, except I'm gonna do it right this time. No more running and hiding."

"Indeed. No more need to subject people to the way we were raised."

They paused upon the stair, Rossiu holding out his hand to her.

"Let's fight to protect everyone, okay?"

She slapped it away, but not unkindly.

"I just can't get rid of you, huh?"

"How do you think I feel? Yet more years to come, apologising for your poor language."

"Big words for someone relying on my recommendation to get into the team! I don't see you putting on a magical dress any time soon!"

"I'll find a place! Just watch me!"

"Me too!"

"And me."

Taking the stairs two at a time, they raced towards tomorrow.


End file.
